Friday | 27 January 2023
The prophet Isaiah declared, ‘In that day the Branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious; and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and appealing for those of Israel who have escaped. And it shall come to pass that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy [sanctified] – everyone who is recorded among the living in Jerusalem.’ Isa 4:2‑3.
In the first instance, the Branch of the Lord is Christ. The prophet Zechariah declared, ‘Behold, the Man whose name is the BRANCH! From His place He shall branch out, and He shall build the temple of the Lord.’ Zec 6:12. Jeremiah described this branch as ‘an almond tree’. Jer 1:11. Significantly, the lampstand of Moses’ tabernacle was fashioned in the form of an almond tree. Exo 25:31‑40.
Christ ‘branches out’ as we, who are living stones, are being built together into the temple of His body. Joh 2:21. Eph 2:19‑22. His body is the church, which is depicted in the book of Revelation as seven golden lampstands. Col 1:18. Rev 1:20. Importantly, those in the seven churches who receive Christ’s initiative to cleanse them from the presumption of eating their own food and wearing their own apparel, are obtaining their sanctification as those who are left in Zion and are remaining in the New Jerusalem. They are being established as part of a lampstand church. It is described as ‘beautiful and glorious’, manifesting the fruit of light, which is the sevenfold Spirit of God, in the whole world.
Notably, those who ‘have escaped’ the judgement of God, by choosing to participate in the offering and sufferings of Christ, are ‘recorded among the living in Jerusalem’. Their names are recorded in the book of life, which is the tree of life in the middle of the heavenly city. Rev 22:19. The substance of their sonship is fed to them by the Spirit through the fruit of the tree of life as they participate in the Lord’s agape meal.
Further Study:
ISAIAH 11
Daily Proverb:
References:
Isa 4:2-3
In that day the Branch of the LORD shall be beautiful and glorious; and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and appealing for those of Israel who have escaped. And it shall come to pass that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy—everyone who is recorded among the living in Jerusalem.
Zec 6:12
Then speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, saying: “Behold, the Man whose name is the BRANCH! From His place He shall branch out, and He shall build the temple of the LORD.” ’
Jer 1:11
Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘Jeremiah, what do you see?’ And I said, ‘I see a branch of an almond tree.’
Exo 25:31-40
You shall also make a lampstand of pure gold; the lampstand shall be of hammered work. Its shaft, its branches, its bowls, its ornamental knobs, and flowers shall be of one piece. And six branches shall come out of its sides: three branches of the lampstand out of one side, and three branches of the lampstand out of the other side. Three bowls shall be made like almond blossoms on one branch, with an ornamental knob and a flower, and three bowls made like almond blossoms on the other branch, with an ornamental knob and a flower—and so for the six branches that come out of the lampstand. On the lampstand itself four bowls shall be made like almond blossoms, each with its ornamental knob and flower. And there shall be a knob under the first two branches of the same, a knob under the second two branches of the same, and a knob under the third two branches of the same, according to the six branches that extend from the lampstand. Their knobs and their branches shall be of one piece; all of it shall be one hammered piece of pure gold. You shall make seven lamps for it, and they shall arrange its lamps so that they give light in front of it. And its wick-trimmers and their trays shall be of pure gold. It shall be made of a talent of pure gold, with all these utensils. And see to it that you make them according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain.
Joh 2:21
But He was speaking of the temple of His body.
Eph 2:19-22
Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
Col 1:18
And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
Rev 1:20
The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches.
Rev 22:19
And if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.