Brief overview of the man called branch, the Messiah, as seen in Isaiah, Zechariah and Jeremiah. The branch a name for the messiah. Isaiah, Zechariah and Jeremiah are Old Testament books of prophesy most quoted in the New Testament and have allot to say about 'the branch'

1. The Branch Foretold
seen by three prophets

2. The Branch Foretold
For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground
Is 53:2

3. The three most quoted prophets in the
New Testament
speak of a man called branch
• Isaiah 11 (mostly in 11,
but spread thru the book)
• Zechariah 3 and 6
• Jeremiah 23

4. Picture a forest with every
tree cut down to stumps
• and out of a stump, from the line of Jesse, a shoot
grows

6. • Isaiah is the most quoted
prophet in the New Testament from
the old
• Isaiah pronounces seven woes,
the last on himself ‘woe is me for I
am undone’ in Isaiah 6
• He has a vision of his own sin
before a holy God and Israel will be
hardened and cut to a stump
• But a shoot will come from the
stump, a branch from Jesse (King
David’s father)

7. • The branch will be referred
to with both shoot and root
language
• Reminiscent of Jesus as ‘the
root and offspring of David’
• The branch will be from the
line of Jesse (King David’s
father)
• The shoot will be fruitful

8. • The Spirit of the Lord will
be on Him
• Seen 7 ways - with
wisdom, understanding,
council and might,
knowledge and fear of the
Lord
• He will give justice and
equity for the poor

9. • He will decide in truth and
not with superficiality.
• Righteousness his belt,
faithfulness his loins
(reminiscent of the armor
of Ephesians)
• Israel will be saved
• Nations will hope in Him

10. • Nature transformed. The
wolf will lie down with the
lamb, the cow and bear,
the lion and lamb together
• The earth will be filled with
knowledge of God
• His resting place shall be
‘glory’

11. • While there are other uses of the branch in
Isaiah, Isaiah 11 is the most extensive, the
rest being much more terse
• The phrase is introduces in Isaiah 4:2 “In
that day the branch of the LORD shall be
beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the
land shall be the pride and honor of the
survivors of Israel.” The Targum
paraphrase for this says ``at that time shall
the Messiah of the Lord be for joy and
glory;''
• The last reference is similar Isaiah 60:21
“Your people shall all be righteous; they
shall possess the land forever, the branch
of my planting, the work of my hands, that
I might be glorified.”

12. Isaiah 11 as reflected in the
New Testament
• The branch is related to the name Nazareth or Nazarene
• The early part of 11 is a near term fulfillment in Jesus life on earth,
Jesus suffers, dies, is raised and enters into His glory and also
perhaps in the church wearing the armor of the spirit in Ephesians
reflects parts of Isaiah 11.
• The later part of 11 is a fulfillment seen by Paul in the antichrist
( who will be slain by the breath of Jesus mouth) and by John in
Revelation (where Jesus will rule with a rod striking the earth ) and
in a new creation where all things are new.
• People from every family, tribe and tongue will come to Jesus in
fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham to bless every family in his
descendent the Messiah

13. Isaiah 11 as reflected in the
Psalms
• In Psalm 138 we hung up our harps and could not
sing in Babylon at the exile but in the next 8
Psalms King David picks up that his harp and plays
like never before about the day coming when all
Kings will sing, all people, all creatures and
everything with breath will glorify God

15. and we sometime get a glimpse even now

16. Picture a priest wearing a
filthy garment
• The priest stands accused by Satan and Satan is
rebuked by God
• New garments given the priest
• and the priest crowned, a priest king

17. • Zechariah is 2nd most quoted prophet from the Old
Testament in the New
• Has 8 dreams in a night in a staircase (chiastic form)
with the emphasis on the center dreams and followed
by one summary dream
• The center dream and the summary dream speak of a
man called branch, a priest king

18. • Both priest and king, like Melchizedek in Psalm 110

19. • Gold and silver collected from some exiles from
Babylon (reminiscent of the gold, silver and bronze
from the exiles from Egypt used for the Tabernacle)
• A crown is made and placed on Joshua’s head (same
word as Jesus)

20. • The crown left in the temple as memorial (of things to
come)

21. The branch in Zechariah as reflected
in the New and Old Testament
• In the near term, the branch reflects Joshua the high
priest and Zerubbabel who are re-establishing Jerusalem
post Babylonian exile. In the longer term it’s about Jesus.
• Jesus will take away the sins of the church where ‘all your
works are as filthy rags’ but you have ‘wrapped me in a
robe of righteousness’ to borrow phrases from Isaiah
• Jesus is both the high priest and king of the church
• Israel will be saved and the nations will come to Him

22. The branch in Zechariah as
reflected in the Psalms
• In Psalm 109 the poor man is accused but helped
by God and in 110 lifted up like Mechizadek, a
priest King
• Psalm 109 and 110 are prelude to the Passover
redemption Psalms
• These Psalms tie together with Joshua (same name
as Jesus) substitutionary death for sinners, his
being made a priest king like Melchizedek

23. Picture a righteous
shepherd, who is also a king
• Whose name reminds us that our righteousness is
not our own somehow

24. • Jeremiah is the 3rd
most quoted prophet
from the Old Testament
in the New
• Jeremiah has 22
chapters of relentless
reminders of Israel’s sin
and wrong worship
• In 23 a song of a man, a
good shepherd who is a
King and the branch
and who’s name reminds
people that ‘the Lord is
our righteousness’

25. • He will be a ‘righteous’ branch
• He will make Israel to ‘not fear’
• We see the good shepherd, next
to the good king theme in the
Psalms several places as well
• Psalm 23 ( good shepherd)
and 24 (good king)
• Psalm 95 and 100 are short
‘God is shepherd’ psalms
that bookend the
enthronement ‘God is King’
Psalms

27. Jeremiah 23 as reflected in
the New and OldTestament
• In the near term, it’s reflective of good leadership
re-establishing Jerusalem after the Babylonian
exile. In the long term, it’s about Jesus.
• Jesus is the good shepherd
• Jesus is the king of kings
• It is Jesus work and righteousness not our own
that’s the ground of our salvation

28. Jeremiah 23 as reflected in
the Psalms
• The priest king motif of Jeremiah 23 is seen in the
Psalms several places
• Psalm 95 and 100 are short staccato like psalms
about God as shepherd bookending the
enthronement Psalms where God is king
• Psalm 22, 23, 24 are the cross, the crook and the
crown Psalms where we see the good shepherd
laying down his life for His sheep, the King

29. see Dwelling in the Word https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/jer23-righteous-branch1.jpg

30. Putting the together, the branch is or will be:
• A messiah from the line of David
• A priest king
• He will maintain justice and equity for the poor
• The spirit of God will be upon Him,
• wisdom and understanding
• council and might follows
• His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. His joy is to stand in awe of God
• Will somehow take away the sin of the land in a day
• Our righteousness is in the Lord
• The nations will hope in the branch
• The branch will fill the earth with the knowledge of the glory of God
• He will somehow be the root and offspring of David
• He will enter into ‘glory’ - His resting place shall be ‘glory’

31. “Just as a branch, when it first begins to shoot forth, appears
small and fragile and easily broken, so would the Messiah first
appear to be inconspicuous and unattractive. "For He shall
grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a
dry ground" (Isaiah 53:2). Yet this same fragile branch will one
day become a great vine, with innumerable branches (John
15:5) that will spread its excellent fruit throughout all the
earth.”
Henry Morris ICR
see http://www.icr.org/article/18767

32. The Branch Foretold
seen by three prophets
fin’