“In that day the Branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious…”

One literary feature about the Bible that attracts people to its pages is its simple and sometimes arresting imagery.  This is especially true when maximizing and exalting a metaphor to divine proportions, a frequently recurring event in the Old Testament.  We definitely see this in our focus when we look at the way the Lord capitalized on the word branch and used it to describe his Son.

We begin our examination with Isaiah 4:2 that says, “In that day the Branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious….”  This description comes after Isaiah opens his book with a great deal of doom and gloom descriptions and predictions.  Then we get a sudden turn, a sudden shift of gears to the time the beautiful and glorious Branch will obviously make “the fruit of the earth…excellent and appealing for those of Israel who have escaped” (v. 2).  Seven chapters later (11:1f) Isaiah elaborates more on the Branch and his time: “The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him…His delight is in the fear of the Lord…With righteousness he shall judge the poor…he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth…The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat…and a little child shall lead them.  The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole, and the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den…” (vs. 2-4, 6-8).  Clearly, many things then will be a lot different than they are now.  But this is just the beginning.

Jeremiah jumps on the prophecy wagon adding a new piece to the puzzle: “‘Behold, the days are coming,’ says the Lord, ‘that I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness, a King shall reign and prosper and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.  In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell safely; now this is his name by which he will be called: The Lord our righteousness’” (23:5-6, 33:15-16).  Jeremiah adds that the Branch will come from David’s family and that he will be a righteous civil ruler — a king.

Then Zechariah contributes even more revelation of the Branch (3:8-10) when he quotes the Lord saying to the high priest at that time, “‘Hear, O Joshua, the high priest, you and your companions who sit before you, for they are a wondrous sign; for behold, I am bringing forth My Servant the Branch.  For behold, the stone that I have laid before Joshua: upon the stone are seven eyes,.  Behold, I will engrave its inscription,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘And I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.  In that day,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘everyone will invite his neighbor under his vine and under his fig tree.’”  First notice that Zechariah combines three distinct descriptions of Messiah — My servant, the Branch and the stone.  All are metaphors having separate meanings, converging on each other while expanding our picture at the same time.  This Branch/stone will have seven eyes, indicating perfect vision or omniscience, and an inscription giving the Branch’s/stone’s purpose, ultimately God’s glory.  And the iniquity of the land (or earth) will be removed (i.e., paid for), a clear reference to Calvary, the result being that everyone will be at peace and harmony with his neighbor.  Oh, for that day in an age of terrorism!

But Zechariah isn’t finished.  God tells him to fashion “an elaborate crown” (6:12) out of gold and silver and put it on Joshua the high priest.  Priests don’t wear crowns; they wear turbines or priestly head coverings.  When Zechariah obeys, God says, “Behold, the Man whose name is…” not Joshua, but “the Branch!  From his place he will branch out and he shall build the temple of the Lord.  He shall bear the glory and shall sit and rule on his throne” (vs. 12-13).  What is significant about this is that it identifies the Branch as both king and priest who bears “the glory of the Lord.”  Think about that for a moment.  Who is capable of such a thing but God himself?  Yet he is a Man we must behold.  The one king who attempted to act like a priest was Uzziah, who, after many a successful battle, barged into the temple and offered incense (2 Chronicles 26:16-23).  He broke out in leprosy from which he never recovered, a pretty good argument for the separation of church and state!  Kings were sons of David, priests sons of Levi.  Only one Man is capable and qualified to be both priest and king, as well as prophet (Deuteronomy 18:15).  And this is the Branch, who wore a branch of thorns on his head when he secured God’s blessings for us.

The Branch has much in store for us.  Are you branching out for him?