ADVENT SEASON
(ANTICIPATING THE BIRTH OF JESUS)
28 NAMES OF JESUS
DECEMBER 8, 2020
NAME #8: Branch
These are prophecies of Jesus found in the Old Testament, that are referring to Him as the BRANCH, the future King of Israel:
Isaiah 4:2 “In that day shall the branch of the LORD be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth [shall be] excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel.”
Isaiah 11:1 “A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.”
Jeremiah 23:5 “’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 33:15 “In those days and at that time I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line; he will do what is just and right in the land.”
Zechariah 3:8 “‘Listen, High Priest Joshua, you and your associates seated before you, who are men symbolic of things to come: I am going to bring my servant, the Branch.”
Zechariah 6:12 “Tell him this is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Here is the man whose name is the Branch, and he will branch out from his place and build the temple of the Lord.’”
Explanation of these verses
Isaiah 11:1 Begins with the claim that new life will spring forth from an injured stump (injured nation of Israel).
Isaiah 4:2 The branch will be beautiful and glorious producing excellent fruit for the remnant who survive the destruction of Israel.
Jeremiah 23:5 He will be from the human family of David. He will be righteous. He will reign wisely in the right land (Israel).
Jeremiah 33:15 A repeated theme from Jeremiah 23:5 above.
Zechariah 3:8 A strong statement to an Israeli High Priest. You and your predecessors are just symbols of the future servant of God — the Branch.
Zechariah 6:12 The future Branch will come out of His place (heaven) and build a temple of the Lord.
When in the biblical timeline will this branch appear?
Isaiah 11:1 – 10 tells us along with the above verses that this will be the SECOND COMING of Jesus Christ. His first coming was to declare His Kingship of Israel, but He was rejected by the nation of Israel. Then He went to the cross to fulfill the Old Testament law by shedding His own blood on the cross. By doing this, HE satisfied the sin issue with God the Father with His own blood. His second coming will be to take the position of the King of Israel by force and rule the land. He will do that for 1000 years. Verses 2 – 10 describe His righteous approach to ruling as King of Israel in great detail.
Understanding God’s plan until the Branch appears
Does God have a plan? As Christians, we believe YES because the Bible tells us the PLAN.
- He is currently building His church (salvation offered to the non-Jews [Gentiles]), since, right after the cross, Paul brought the gospel message to the Gentiles.
- When the last soul is saved during this Church Age, Christ will come out of heaven and will remove all past and current Christians from this earth and meet us in the clouds and take us to heaven (1 Thessalonians 4:13 – 18).
- That begins the 7 years of tribulation, when the earth will be without the presence of the Holy Spirit. Satan will continue to cause havoc, with many conflicts.
- After those 7 years, Jesus Christ returns for His second coming, to judge Satan and his fallen angels and send them to their final destination.
- The nations of the world will be judged and Christ will take His throne in Israel as the promised descendent of David as King of Israel for 1000 years.
- After the 1000 years of righteous rule by Jesus, the earth will be replaced, and all believers will spend eternity forever with our God and His Son.
- So if God has a PLAN, it makes sense out of all the chaos that is going on in the world today. God is fulfilling His plan to get to the rapture, the tribulation, the return of Christ for the second time, the 1000-year rule of Christ, the final judgments, and then ETERNITY with God.
Have a peaceful day today everyone, knowing that God’s PLAN is in motion and is pointing towards eternity with Him.
Blessings from Carlton Ringer