"In that day the Branch of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth will be the pride and the adornment of the survivors of Israel." Isaiah 4:2

All verses are quoted from the NASB anything in [square brackets] is added by me for clarity. In this article we will look at the Branch of the Lord and see whom it represents.

"Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, And a Branch from his roots will bear fruit." Isaiah 11:1

This says that from Jesse will come a "Branch/Shoot". But who is Jesse?

"and to Obed was born Jesse, and to Jesse, David." Ruth 4:22

Jesse is the father of King David (the guy who killed Golaith the giant cf. 1 Samuel 17:1-51)

"`Behold, the days are coming,' declares the LORD, `When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; And He will reign as king and act wisely And do justice and righteousness in the land.'" Jeremiah 23:5

So the righteous Branch will come from Jesse who is the father of David.

"The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David," Matthew 1:1a

So we see that David is in the genealogy of Jesus, and hence so is David's Father Jesse (cf. Matthew 1:6).Now let us relook at the prophecy in Isaiah 11

"Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, And a Branch from his roots will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him [the Branch], The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. And He [the Branch] will delight in the fear of the LORD, And He will not judge by what His eyes see, Nor make a decision by what His ears hear; But with righteousness He will judge the poor, And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked. Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins, And faithfulness the belt about His [the Branch's] waist." Isaiah 11:1-5

This is clearly a prophecy about Jesus. Jesus had the Holy Spirit. He only did what the Father told him, that is He did not judge by what His eyes saw, but by what the Father told Him. He corrected the wicked with His words (the rod of His mouth). Thus we can conclude that Jesus is this righteous Branch of the Lord who comes from Jesse and David. Now consider the following prophecy -

"Take silver and gold, make an ornate crown and set it on the head of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Then say to him, `Thus says the LORD of hosts, `Behold, a man whose name is Branch, for He will branch out from where He is; and He will build the temple of the LORD.''" Zechariah 6:11 & 12

Finally Joshua the Hight priest is Jesus. And here he is called "Branch".

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