Passage: In that day the Branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of the survivors in Israel. Those who are left in Zion, who remain in Jerusalem, will be called holy, all who are recorded among the living in Jerusalem. The Lord will wash away the fifth of the women of Zion; He will cleanse the bloodstains from Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire. Then the Lord will create over all of Mount Zion and over those who assemble there a cloud of smoke by day and a glow of flaming fire by night; over all the glory will be a canopy. It will be a shelter and shade from the heat of the day, and a refuge and hiding place from the storm and rain.
Journal: What is this "Branch of the Lord" (also mentioned by other prophets such as Jeremiah and Zechariah)? Later, we will see that this branch comes from the stump of Jesse's house (Isaiah 11:1). It is also described as an offshoot of David by Jeremiah (Jer. 23:5-6; 33:15-16). This past spring we had some bad weather and heavy winds knocked down a red oak tree I had planted a few years ago. The wind snapped the tree off at the trunk about three feet above the ground. It looked like a gnarled fence post and I even tried to push the trunk out of the ground with a tractor. It didn't readily come up, and so I went to other things intending to get back to it later. Since then, that stump left in the ground has been covered up by red oak shoots coming up out of the root of the tree. It had appeared dead and lifeless, but in fact is quite alive.
So it is with man. We are an inherently a lifeless stump, but God promised a "son" to David when He made a covenant with him (2 Sam. 7:11-16). No matter how much the stump looks to be in decay, such as the condition of Judah during the time of Isaiah, the green life giving branch will ultimately emerge from the house of David. To take the analogy further, Satan tries to push the stump out of the ground but to no avail. The root of God is too strong, and the life giving branch will emerge in God's perfect timing.
God absolutely can be trusted to carry out that which He has promised. He is faithful to His Word. Man is trapped in that decaying stump. Christ is that life-giving branch. Praise God that He took me from the comfort of my decay to the glory of His renewal. ("In that day the Branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of the survivors in Israel.") The decay is comfortable because we are inherently rotten, lost in the complete depravity of our souls. The salvation of the vine becomes lovely when God opens our eyes to the decay of our natural self and provokes within us a desire for life. There is only one root, and there is only one branch. What a sweet epiphany. ("Then the Lord will create over all of Mount Zion and over those who assemble there a cloud of smoke by day and a glow of flaming fire by night; over all the glory will be a canopy. It will be a shelter and shade from the heat of the day, and a refuge and hiding place from the storm and rain.")
John Dee Spicer
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About Me
I started the Daily Journal in 2000. I sent it as an email to a few friends (it was a round number, either 10 or 20, I can't remember exactly). It has grown over the years, primarily due to those original few forwarding it to others. During this time, I have journaled through Genesis, selected Psalms, the Gospel of John, Acts, Romans, Galatians, Hebrews, and Peter's letters. (These are the books I can remember for sure this morning, anyway.) I don't have seminary training and don't claim to have special wisdom. Rather, I simply desire that others develop a love for God's word. There is only one interpretation for any Bible passage, and I will rely on the wisdom of scholars through the ages (at least those at my disposal) to help with that one interpretation. I will also attempt some practical application. Somewhere along the way I started sharing some funny things my kids would say, and this became known as "Heard 'Round the House." I will continue to share these priceless nuggets as my kids provide material. The "Daily" Journal is a bit of a misnomer, since I only do it Monday through Thursday. I don't do it on Friday because I attend a 6 am Bible Study. I don't do it on the weekends because so many received it at work (I may revise this approach since I have gone to the "Blog" format). I do read my Bible on a daily basis, and strongly recommend a chronilogical daily Bible - you will read the Bible completely each year, and the events unfold in a historical fashion.
