The Branch That Beautifies
The origin of the Christmas tree remains shrouded in mystery. In the 700s the English missionary Boniface allegedly felled Donar’s Oak, a tree dedicated to the god Thor by Germanic pagans. One legend says that an evergreen sprouted in place of the oak, and Boniface declared that it represented the eternal nature of Christ. More verifiable is the appearance of Christmas trees about 800 years later in the region of Alsace (then in Germany, now in France)—though Latvia and Estonia both claim to have originated the tradition. A medieval play about Adam and Eve used a “paradise tree” to represent the Garden of Eden, and this possibly led to the concept of the Christmas tree.
The Christmas Branch
Whatever the case, Scripture nowhere references the use of trees to commemorate the birth of Jesus. Nevertheless, on several occasions the OT prophetic books anticipate certain aspects of the Messiah’s ministry with a metaphor that’s related to a tree. The prophets use Hebrew words that have to do with something that sprouts or shoots out from a plant or tree. The passages with this terminology don’t necessarily describe a full-grown tree with long and strong branches spreading out. But the traditional translation works well enough because each passage does depict Christ in terms of branching out in some way.
Most of what the Prophetic Books say about the Messianic Branch won’t happen until his Second Coming. But his first coming at Bethlehem launched the process that will culminate at the Second Coming. So as we go through the Advent season it’s appropriate to reflect on Jesus as “the Christmas Branch,” and I plan to write a series of posts on this theme.
Beautiful and Beautifying
The first branch passage begins 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.
Some commentators don’t take the word branch in verse 2 (tsemach) as a Messianic reference. They note that it’s parallel with the fruit of the land, and they see the branch or sprouting of Yahweh as a way of talking about agricultural blessings in the end times.
Plenty of other prophetic passages say that God will give Israel remarkable agricultural blessings. But given how this expression the branch is clearly a title for Christ in later passages, it seems more natural to understand Isaiah 4:2 as providing the foundational Messianic reference. That’s especially likely since a few chapters later Isaiah himself uses similar terminology to predict the Messiah: “There shall come forth a shoot [choter] from the stump of Jesse, and a branch [nētser] from his roots shall bear fruit” (11:1).
If the branch in Isaiah 4:2a is the Messiah, to what does “the fruit of the land” in verse 2b refer? It may be anticipating agricultural blessing as part of what the Messianic age will bring. The two lines of poetry don’t have to be talking about exactly the same thing. But some commentators think the fruit of the land is also a Messianic reference. In fact, they argue that “the branch of Yahweh” speaks to Christ’s divine origin and “the fruit of the land” speaks to his human origin.
In any case, the more important point is the connection of the branch in verse 2 with the rest of the passage. The branch comes up at the beginning of the passage and appears to be the explanation for the blessings listed in verses 3–6. This flow of thought also argues for taking this Messianically. The coming of Christ is a sprouting out from Yahweh, and that sprouting out is what produces the amazing developments we read about in the rest of the text.
Before considering those developments, notice how verse 2 describes the branch: he “shall be beautiful and glorious.” There’s this inherent splendor and magnificence about him that makes people stand in awe of him and find him desirable. We ought to keep that idea in mind as we read verses 3–6 because in those verses the Messianic Branch is passing on something of his beauty to his people. So we could entitle this passage “The Branch That Beautifies.”
The Ugly Backdrop
But before we can appreciate that beautifying work, first we have to see the natural condition of the people he beautifies. To get the full picture, we’d have to start in chapter 1 because most of the opening chapters of Isaiah are laying out in detail what the people of Judah were like when Isaiah was called to minister to them. In reading these chapters, we find that the people are characterized by all manner of rebellion, idolatry, immorality, injustice, and especially pride.
In this regard, notice that 4:4 mentions “the filth of the daughters of Zion.” Why would Isaiah say that? It’s because in chapter 3 he’s been talking about these same daughters, and that’s the immediate background to the work of the Messianic Branch.
16 The LORD said: Because the daughters of Zion are haughty and walk with outstretched necks, glancing wantonly with their eyes, mincing along as they go, tinkling with their feet, 17 therefore the Lord will strike with a scab the heads of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will lay bare their secret parts. 18 In that day the Lord will take away the finery of the anklets, the headbands, and the crescents; 19 the pendants, the bracelets, and the scarves; 20 the headdresses, the armlets, the sashes, the perfume boxes, and the amulets; 21 the signet rings and nose rings; 22 the festal robes, the mantles, the cloaks, and the handbags; 23 the mirrors, the linen garments, the turbans, and the veils. 24 Instead of perfume there will be rottenness; and instead of a belt, a rope; and instead of well-set hair, baldness; and instead of a rich robe, a skirt of sackcloth; and branding instead of beauty. 25 Your men shall fall by the sword and your mighty men in battle. 26 And her gates shall lament and mourn; empty, she shall sit on the ground. 4:1 And seven women shall take hold of one man in that day, saying, “We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes, only let us be called by your name; take away our reproach.”
What an unflattering description of the wealthy women of Jerusalem! Luxurious clothes and extravagant jewelry and gaudy accessories—all designed to bring attention to their owners and all expressing a spirit of arrogance and carnality. This may be what the world considers beauty, but from the standpoint of God’s ideal for women it’s ugly and off-putting. So when the Lord brings his judgment on Jerusalem, all that skin-deep beauty would be stripped away. In fact, verse 24 says that their beauty would be exchanged for a prisoner’s brand as they’re carted off to exile in shame!
But coming out of that grim prediction, Isaiah immediately shifts to the far-away future: “In that day the branch of the LORD shall be beautiful and glorious.” Do you see the contrast? You’ve been staring at these women who displayed bogus beauty but who are now hideous and filthy. And against that ugly backdrop you have the true beauty of the Messiah shining forth.
And then he graciously works to reproduce that beauty in the remnant, including the daughters of Zion. The beautiful One who has sprouted from Yahweh spreads his beauty among his people. He does so by giving them three blessings.
The Branch beautifies his people with his holiness.
Isaiah 4:3 says,
And he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, everyone who has been recorded for life in Jerusalem.
Holiness vocabulary is one of Isaiah’s distinctives, and the first time he uses it is in 1:4: “Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the LORD, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged.” Yet despite all of that, the very next time the term holy shows up is here in 4:3, and it’s describing the same people that who despised their holy God. The Lord is so committed to them that he will do whatever it takes to instill his holy character in them.
Furthermore, this holiness is not optional. “Everyone recorded for life in Jerusalem” “will be called holy.” Likewise, the NT speaks of “the holiness without which no one will see the Lord” (Heb 12:14). And in describing the New Creation, perhaps John was alluding to Isaiah 4:3 when he wrote Revelation 21:27: “But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”
Through the New Covenant, at the Second Coming the Messiah will share his holiness with national Israel (cf. Jer 31:33). But as a result of his first coming, he’s begun to do that in the lives of believers now. How this ought to shape how we think about the pursuit of holiness! Holiness is not an annoying duty or some crushing burden to be borne. It’s the beauty of our Savior’s purity being worked into our own character.
The Branch beautifies his people with his cleansing.
Isaiah 4:4 continues,
When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning.
The word translated “filth” could also be translated “vomit” or even “excrement.” That’s how nasty sin is in God’s sight. But all that filth and all the bloodstains are totally washed away! Everything is made sparkling clean!
This happens “by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning.” That seems to be talking about what the Lord will need to do to Israel in the end times to bring the Israelites to turn to him for forgiveness and restoration. During the seven years of the Tribulation a host of devastating national judgments will be unleashed on them. Those excruciating experiences will humble them and prepare them to finally recognize Jesus as their Messiah. So this verse is talking about the subjective purging that will bring Israel to repentance. And often the Lord has to hurt us too before we turn to him.
But that’s not the only thing, or the central thing, required for forgiveness. Even more important is the objective payment that has to be paid, the penalty for our sins being fully satisfied. And Isaiah deals with that in a later passage, the famous Suffering Servant passage. The introduction to chapter 53 says that “his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind” (52:14). That’s because he would be horribly disfigured in the process of atoning for us. He, the source of all beauty, was made ugly so that we could enjoy his beauty—specifically the beauty of our sins being washed away and being clothed in the robes of his righteousness. That’s the core of the Branch’s work that we celebrate at Christmas!
The Branch beautifies his people with his presence.
Our text ends with this blessed assurance:
5 Then the LORD will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory there will be a canopy. 6 There will be a booth for shade by day from the heat, and for a refuge and a shelter from the storm and rain.
Reaching back to the Torah, those statements expand on the theology of the Book of Exodus. The exodus wasn’t just about getting Israel out of Egypt. It was about enabling them to know Yahweh experientially, to have Yahweh dwelling in their midst. And Isaiah is describing an even greater experience of God’s presence brought about by the Second Coming of Christ.
As a result of that presence, no threat will harm or even reach Israel because they will be completely surrounded by the presence of God like a canopy. In ancient near Eastern culture so much of life had to do with the weather, and so much of pagan religion had to do with appeasing the gods so that they would keep away unfavorable weather. So this image of a protective shelter would have been especially meaningful to the people of Israel. The weather would never be of concern again since the personal presence of Yahweh would keep away any danger from the environment. And the people won’t need to do anything to earn his ongoing favor—they will be entirely secure in his embrace because of the redemptive work that he himself has accomplished.
That is what Christians anticipate in the end as well, but here again we don’t have to wait till the end times to enjoy the presence of God. Remember that when Jesus was born he was introduced as the Immanuel—God with us—that this same prophet Isaiah predicted (7:14). Already God has come to dwell with us in Christ. And even though his physical presence isn’t with us right now, we still enjoy the beauty of his presence through his Spirit. There’s another reason to rejoice in the Christmas Branch!
