A COMING RIGHTEOUS BRANCH

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.

Jeremiah 23:5

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.

In that day, the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to Him, and His resting place will be glorious.

Isaiah 11:1, 10

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Today, I am starting a month of special holiday messages, first for Advent as we approach the celebration of Jesus’ birth and then the aftermath of His arrival up to ushering in the new year.

Over the first 10 messages in this series, we will see how the coming of Christ was foretold in the Old Testament scriptures. We begin by looking at verses from the prophets Jeremiah and Isaiah. Look again at their words here:

“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. Jeremiah 23:5

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.

In that day, the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to Him, and His resting place will be glorious. Isaiah 11:1, 10

In genealogy terms, a “root” would refer to someone who was the progenitor, which simply means the source from someone is descended. Jesse was the father of King David and looking at the family tree of Jesus, we see that He is a descendant from the line of Jesse and his son David (Matthew 1:6-16, Luke 3:23-32). Further, you will remember that Joseph and Mary departed Nazareth and journeyed to Bethlehem to comply with Caesar’s ordered census because Joseph was in the line of David (Luke 2:4).

Now, David was the king of Judah and following that kingdom’s history after his death shows a steady descent into utter destruction at the hands of God’s judgment. Indeed, the cumulative sin and disobedience of the Judeans was so severe that God punished them through a seventy year exile as the nation was destroyed and the people dragged off to Babylon.

The beautiful thriving family tree of Judah was reduced to a stump but all was not hopeless and the Lord made this clear through His prophets Jeremiah and Isaiah. For God would soon create a shoot that would rise up from Jesse’s stump. New life through a new King was coming, a “righteous Branch” who would “bear fruit”, “reign wisely”, do what was “right and just in the land”, and “stand as a banner” for all peoples as nations rallied to Him. Note here that the reach of the righteous Branch would extend far beyond Judah and indeed, Jesus came to bring a new covenant with salvation accessible to all, whether Jew or Gentile.

Finally, this coming Messiah would end up in a “resting place” that would be “glorious” after His work on earth was through.

God’s judgment was ahead for His chosen people but beyond that lie His amazing plan of redemption and salvation for mankind, a plan that would absolve sin through a righteous Branch named Jesus, descended from Jesse and David to become the Savior of the world while fulfilling this promise of Samuel:

“‘The Lord declares to you that the Lord Himself will establish a house for you: When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish His kingdom. He is the One who will build a house for My Name, and I will establish the throne of His kingdom forever. I will be His Father, and He will be My Son.’”

“’Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before Me; your throne will be established forever.’” 2 Samuel 11b-14a, 16

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.