The Fruit of the Davidic Branch

In my first post on “the Christmas Branch,” I dealt with Isaiah 4, and now we move to Isaiah 11. Verse 1 says,

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.

This past week a worker came with a machine and ground up the stump that was left over from a large tree that fell on my house during Hurricane Helene. Now there’s a big pile of sawdust and some chunks of wood. But when you don’t grind or dig out a stump, sometimes there’s still life left in it, and these little shoots grow up, and they look like branches with leaves.

That’s Isaiah’s image when he speaks of “a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots.” The Davidic dynasty would go for a long time without a king, and it would seem like the dynasty was forever defunct. But in God’s time he would bring to life a King who would show that the Lord would keep his promise that a descendant of David would rule from his throne forever (2 Sam 7:16).

There’s another point being made by the image of a shoot or small branch. Here are the two verses right before 11:1, 10:33–34:

³³ Behold, the Lord GOD of hosts will lop the boughs with terrifying power; the great in height will be hewn down, and the lofty will be brought low. ³⁴ He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an axe, and Lebanon will fall by the Majestic One.

That’s talking about the king of Assyria and his army, who had boasted about their conquest of the ancient near Eastern world. The Lord would humble this arrogant force, and that’s pictured like the chopping down of a forest. In contrast to the pride of the Assyria king, you have this little shoot that looks puny and vulnerable. But by the time chapter 11 is over that humble shoot has grown to become the ruler of the entire world!

The rule of this King had already been predicted in the famous Christmas verse, Isaiah 9:6–7. As we read on into chapter 11, Isaiah develops further chapter 9’s themes concerning King Jesus. And there seems to be another contextual reason to see Isaiah 11 as referring to Jesus. The word translated branch is different from the word for branch in chapter 4. This is the word nētser, and the Greek word Nazareth reflects this Hebrew term or at least sounds like it. Matthew 2:23 says that Joseph “went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene.” No OT verse predicts explicitly that the Messiah would live in Nazareth or be called a Nazarene. Thus we have to look for a more subtle connection. That’s why many commentators argue that Jesus’ living in Nazareth fulfills Isaiah 11 specifically. It may well be that Matthew is saying the Messianic Branch came to be known as a “branch-towner.”

Notice what Isaiah 11:1 says about the Branch. It’s not only that he will sprout out but that he shall bear fruit. When you read what follows, what you find is that Isaiah is explaining what that fruit is. It’s fruit in terms of the character and works of the Branch. So, this passage describes for us the fruit of the Davidic Branch—four categories of fruit.

Leadership endowments (v. 2)

And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.

The NT speaks of godly character traits as the fruit of the Spirit. There’s something similar going on here with the Messianic Branch. The Holy Spirit would influence his human psyche and would give him all the abilities he would need to succeed as a leader. This verse lists six traits the Spirit would produce in the Branch. There’s some overlap among these traits, but they’re all related to his work as a leader. The Branch will have:

• All the raw data and the theoretical knowledge required to determine the right objectives to pursue
• The skill to connect all the dots and figure out which strategies are best
• The strength to carry out those strategies
• And if someone really is going to understand how to navigate life in the world God has created and structured and then lead others down that path, he’s going to need to know God and be rightly related to him. That’s why Proverbs says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. So, it makes perfect sense that the Branch would also be characterized by the fear of the Lord.

So many of the Davidic kings miserably failed in one or more of these areas. Isaiah himself tells us about some of the failures, especially Ahaz’s foolish reliance on the Assyrians (ch. 7) and Hezekiah’s blunder of showing off his wealth to the Babylonians (ch. 39). Even the best kings were limited in their ability to solve problems and to guide the people in doing what pleased the Lord. And the same goes for our governmental leaders today.

What we desperately need is a leader who humbly bows before the Father and from that relationship draws the wisdom needed to guide us. And this wisdom is one of the qualities that make Jesus so compelling. Even secular readers sense the wisdom of his teachings such as the Sermon on the Mount. Indeed, Paul says that in Christ “are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col 2:3). This is one of the grand realities we celebrate at Christmas. Finally, someone has been born who rightly understands the world and humanity and the purposes of God and can show us the best goals and the best ways to arrive at those goals—beginning with the goal of a reconciled relationship with our Creator.

True justice (vv. 3–5)

³ And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, ⁴ but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. ⁵ Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins.

Verse 3 begins by mentioning again the fear of the Lord: the Messianic Branch will delight in the fear of the Lord. The inclinations of his heart will be directed entirely toward reverence to God and submission to God. As a result, he’ll be able to make fair judicial decisions.

Even when they’re trying to be fair, juries and judges can go astray simply because they have limited information. Or they might be unduly influenced by appearances. They can also be deceived by false testimony. Or judges might actively show favoritism or use their position to oppress others. Just a chapter earlier Isaiah said that was going on in the days of Ahaz (10:1–2). Today we’re seeing sort-of the opposite problem—some authorities operate with a twisted definition of justice that assumes that minorities are automatically in the right and majorities are automatically in the wrong.

In contrast to all such miscarriages of justice, the Branch will make entirely righteous verdicts! He’ll deliver those who actually are oppressed, and he’ll thoroughly punish their wicked oppressors. In fact, verse 5 describes the Messiah’s righteousness and faithfulness like a belt. John Oswalt explains: “The sense is that these characteristics are the Messiah’s most intimate garments, his underclothing. When you strip away everything else, what do you find? A continuing concern to be right with all that is right and to be true to all that is true in God’s universe. Can such a king be trusted? Will he have an inescapable personal authority? By all means!” (Isaiah, NIVAC, 188).

Here’s something else that makes Jesus compelling. Whether it’s in proclaiming good news to the poor or sorting out his disciples’ squabbles or denouncing the Pharisees or judging Satan and the unregenerate in the end times, Christ fulfills the expectations that the Davidic Branch will bring about true justice. That’s one of his works we remember at Christmastime. In the words of John S. Dwight’s hymn “O Holy Night!”:

Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother;
And in His name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
Let all within us praise His holy name.

Edenic peace (vv. 6–9)

⁶ The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. ⁷ The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. ⁸ The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.

Many commentators understand these promises as metaphors rather than as predictions of a transformation in the animal kingdom. Isaiah’s words are taken to point to the overall peace that will characterize the Messianic age or to the pacification of specific groups of people. The main point is peace, but I don’t see any reason not to take the words literally—especially since at least two other prophets say that God will make a covenant to banish wild beasts from his kingdom (Hos 2:18; Ezek 34:25). Such peace among the animals and between animals and humans was characteristic of the Garden of Eden, before the curse of sin. In fact, Isaiah 51:3 says, “For the Lord comforts Zion; he comforts all her waste places and makes her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of song.”

What accounts for this dramatic change in the environment? Isaiah 11:9 answers: “They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.”  When in the end times the mass of humanity is regenerate and therefore knows the Lord experientially (cf. Jer 31:34), then he will pull back many of the effects of sin, including the violence of the animal kingdom. And this will all flow from the perfect rule of the Messianic Branch.

Here’s how to think about the Christmas story: Jesus was born to be the curse-reverser, to undo the curse of sin by taking that curse upon himself on the Cross. One day he will remove every part of the curse on this world. But when we trust him as your Savior, even now he frees us from the worst consequence of sin, our separation from God.

Global governance (11:10–16)

In these verses, the little shoot from an old stump branches out so far that it ends up dominating the whole world. This global governance of the Branch breaks down into four works.

Verse 10 speaks of Christ’s global guidance. This will be the only “one world order” that will work. Can you imagine—all the nations of the world recognizing the leadership of King Jesus and asking for his direction instead of resisting it?

Verses 11–12 predict a global reclamation, the regathering of the remnant of Israel from all corners of the world. It pictures that like a second exodus for the people of God. Think about what happened in the middle of the twentieth century. Between 1948 and 1951 alone almost 700,000 Jews emigrated to their mother land, basically a doubling of the population of the new state of Israel. And they came from all over the world—Germany, Poland, the USSR, Morocco, Turkey, and Iran, to name a few. That post-WWII Aliyah (going up) is a token of the mass migration that the Branch will work out for Israel in the eschaton. It will bring about the fulfillment not only of the Davidic Covenant but also the Abrahamic Covenant and its promises about the physical descendants of Abraham living in their divinely appointed territory.

Verses 13–14 speak of the global victory these people will enjoy. First they will learn to get along among themselves. Then the military forces of the Messiah will deal decisively with the anti-Semitism that has long plagued the human race.

Finally, verses 15–16 describe a global reconfiguration. Nothing will stand in the way of God’s covenant people going back to their land—not even bodies of water. The Branch will reconfigure nature so that the Jews can efficiently and safely return home. He did it with the Red Sea at the first exodus, and he’ll do it again at the second exodus!

Jesus the Branch

If there is any doubt that Jesus Christ is the one who will do all these things, consider how the NT speaks of him.

Revelation 5:5:

And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”

Revelation 22:16:

I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.

And in Romans 15:12 gives an adapted translation of Isaiah 11:10:

And again Isaiah says, “The root of Jesse will come, even he who arises to rule the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles hope.”

Paul brings up Isaiah’s prophecy to explain his own ministry. He believed that one day the Gentile nations would bow before Israel’s Messiah, and he saw the preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles today as moving toward that consummation.

Responding to the Fruitful Branch

How should we respond to the glorious fruit the Messianic Branch will bear? How should we respond to these things? Isaiah himself answers the question as he moves into chapter 12:

• ¹ You will say in that day: “I will give thanks to you, O LORD, for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, that you might comfort me. ² “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.” ³ With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. ⁴ And you will say in that day: “Give thanks to the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples, proclaim that his name is exalted. ⁵ “Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously; let this be made known in all the earth. ⁶ Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”

This is how the restored nation of Israel will respond to the Branch in the eschaton when he carries out the works prophesied in chapter 11. They will trust the Lord and rejoice in the Lord and thank the Lord and praise the Lord and proclaim the Lord. That’s how you and I ought to respond to the Davidic Branch as well, and Christmas is a choice time to do it!