We saw how Isaiah used the image of The Branch. A ‘he’ from the fallen dynasty of David, possessing wisdom and power was coming. Then Jeremiah followed up by stating that this Branch would be known as the LORD (the Old Testament name for God) himself.

Zechariah continues The Branch

The prophet Zechariah lived 520 BCE, just after the Jewish people returned to Jerusalem from their first exile to Babylon. At that time, the Jewish people were rebuilding their destroyed temple. The High Priest then was a man named Joshua, and he was re-starting the work of priests. Zechariah, the prophet, was partnering with his colleague Joshua, the High Priest, in leading the Jewish people. Here is what God – through Zechariah- said about this Joshua:

‘”Listen O High Priest Joshua and your associates seated before you, who are men symbolic of things to come: I am going to bring my servant the Branch.” …, says the LORD Almighty, “and I will remove the sin of this land in a single day”.’
Zechariah 3:8-9

The Branch! Started by Isaiah 200 years before, continued by Jeremiah 60 years earlier, Zechariah carries on further with ‘The Branch’. Here God also calls the Branch ‘my servant’. In some way the High Priest Joshua in Jerusalem at 520BCE, colleague of Zechariah, was ‘symbolic’ of this coming Branch.

But how?

It says that in ‘a single day’ the sins will be removed by the LORD. How would that happen?

The Branch: Uniting Priest and King

To understand we should know that God strictly separated the roles of Priest and King in the Bible. None of the Kings could be priests, and the priests could not be kings. The role of the priest was to mediate between God and man by offering sacrifices to God. The responsibility of the King was to rule with justice from the throne. Both were crucial; both were distinct. Yet Zechariah wrote that in the future:

The word of the Lord came to me:…
Zechariah 6:9

Take the silver and gold and make a crown, and set it on the head of the high priest, Joshua son of Jozadak.¹²Tell him this is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Here is the man whose name is the Branch, and he will branch out from his place and build the temple of the Lord. ¹³It is he who will build the temple of the Lord, and he will be clothed with majesty and will sit and rule on his throne. And he will be a priest on his throne. And there will be harmony between the two.’
Zechariah 6: 11-13

Against previous precedent, Joshua, the high priest in Zechariah’s day, was to symbolically put on the king’s crown as the Branch. (Remember Joshua was ‘symbolic of things to come’). Joshua, the High Priest, by putting on the crown prophesied a future uniting of King and Priest into one person. This coming Branch would be a priest on the King’s throne. Furthermore, Zechariah wrote that ‘Joshua’ was the name of the Branch. What did that mean?

The name ‘Joshua’ is the name ‘Jesus’

We had summarized pertinent details of Bible translation here necessary to understand further. The original Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek in 250 BCE, and called the Septuagint or LXX. We saw how the Septuagint made the title ‘Christ’ well-known. Here we follow that same analysis for ‘Joshua’.

joshuajesus-diagram — ‘Joshua’ = ‘Jesus’. Both come from the Hebrew name ‘Yhowshuwa’

Joshua is a Hebrew transliteration of the original Hebrew name ‘Yhowshuwa’. Quadrant #1 shows how Zechariah wrote ‘Joshua’ as ‘Yhowshuwa’ in Hebrew in 520 BCE. Scholars transliterate the Hebrew ‘Yhowshuwa’ in modern Bible translations (#1-> #3). ‘Yhowshuwa’ in Hebrew is the same as Joshua in modern languages like English. But when the Septuagint was translated from Hebrew to Greek in 250 BCE Yhowshuwa was transliterated to Iesous (#1 -> #2). ‘Yhowshuwa’ in Hebrew is the same as Iesous in Greek. When scholars translate the Greek New Testament to modern languages (like English), Iesous is transliterated to ‘Jesus’ (#2 -> #3). Iesous in Greek is the same as Jesus.

People called Jesus ‘Yhowshuwa‘ when they spoke to him in Hebrew. But the writers of the Greek New Testament wrote his name as ‘Iesous’. This was exactly as the Greek Old Testament Septuagint wrote that name. In New Testament translations of today’s modern languages (#2 -> #3) ‘Iesous’ is transliterated to the familiar ‘Jesus’.

So the name: ‘Yhowshuwa’ = ‘Jesus’ = ‘Joshua’.

The name ‘Jesus’ goes through an intermediate Greek step, and ‘Joshua’ comes directly from the Hebrew.

In summary, both Jesus of Nazareth, and Joshua the High Priest of 520 BCE had the same name. They were named ‘Yhowshuwa’ in their native Hebrew, but in Greek both were called ‘Iesous’.

Jesus of Nazareth is the Branch

Now Zechariah’s prophecy makes sense. He predicted in 520 BCE that the name of the coming Branch would be ‘Jesus‘. In doing so he pointed directly to Jesus of Nazareth.

Jesus of Nazareth is well-known outside the gospels. The Jewish Talmud, Josephus and all other historical writers of Jesus, both friend and enemy, always referred to him as ‘Jesus’ or ‘Christ’. So his name was not invented in the Gospels. But Zechariah predicted his name 500 years before he lived.

Served as Priest…

This coming Jesus, according to Zechariah, would unite the King and Priest roles. What was it that the priests did? On behalf of the people they offered sacrifices to God to atone for sins. The priest covered the sins of the people by sacrifice. Similarly, the coming Branch ‘Jesus’ was going to bring a sacrifice so that the LORD could ‘remove the sin of this land in a single day’. This was the day Jesus offered himself as the sacrifice.

While known as Christ

Now think of the life of Jesus of Nazareth. He certainly claimed to be a king – The King in fact. This is what ‘Christ‘ means. But what he did while on earth was actually priestly. The priest offered acceptable sacrifices on behalf of the people. The death of Jesus was also an offering to God on our behalf. So his death was in his priestly role. In his death he fulfilled all the requirements as Priest, even as most know him as ‘The Christ’ or King. In his resurrection, he showed his power and authority over death. He brought the two roles together.

The Branch, the one that David long ago called the ‘Christ’, is the Priest-King. Remarkably, the prophet Zechariah wrote down his name in prophecy over 500 years before his birth.

The Prophets then predicted when the Christ would come. We look at this next.

Jesus had critics who questioned his authority. He would answer them by pointing to the prophets that came before, claiming that they foresaw his life. Here is one example where Jesus said to his critics:

You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me,
John 5:39

In other words, Jesus claimed that he was prophesied in the Old Testament, which preceded him by hundreds of years. The Old Testament prophets claimed that God inspired their writings. Since no human can predict with certainty hundreds of years into the future, Jesus claimed this as evidence to check if he had really come as God’s plan or not. We can use this test to see if God exists and if He speaks. The Old Testament, unchanged and pre-dating Jesus by hundreds of years, is available for us to examine and consider this same question for ourselves.

First some review. The very beginning of the Old Testament hinted at Jesus’ coming. Then Abraham’s sacrifice foretold the spot where Jesus was to be sacrificed while the Passover foretold the day in the year that it would occur. We saw that Psalm 2 inaugurated the title ‘Christ’ to foretell a coming King. But it did not end there. Later prophets advanced additional prophetic themes. Isaiah (750 BCE) began a theme that later prophets developed – that of the coming Branch.

Isaiah and the Branch

The figure below shows Isaiah in a historical timeline with some other Old Testament writers.

isaiah-in-timeline — Isaiah shown in historical timeline. He lived in the period of the rule of the Davidic Kings

The timeline shows that Isaiah wrote his book in the period of David’s Royal dynasty (1000–600 BCE). At that time (ca 750 BCE) the dynasty and the kingdom was corrupt. Isaiah pleaded that the Kings return back to God and the practice and spirit of the Mosaic Law. But Isaiah knew that Israel would not repent. So he also prophesied her destruction and the termination of the royal dynasty.

He used a specific metaphor, or image, for the royal dynasty, picturing it like a great tree. This tree had at its root Jesse, the father of King David. On Jesse the Dynasty began with David, and from his successor, Solomon, the tree continued to grow and develop.

The image Isaiah used of the Dynasty as a tree

First a Tree … then a Stump … then a Branch

Isaiah wrote that God would soon cut this ‘tree’ dynasty down, reducing it to a stump. Here is how he began the tree image which then he turned into the riddle of a stump and Branch:

“A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him–the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge.”
Isaiah 11:1-2

Dynasty pictured as a Stump of Jesse – father of David

The cutting down of this ‘tree’ happened about 150 years after Isaiah, around 600 BCE. Then the Babylonians conquered Jerusalem and dragged its people into exile (the red period in the timeline above). Jesse was the father of King David, and so was the root of David’s Dynasty. The ‘stump of Jesse’ was therefore a metaphor to the coming shattering of David’s dynasty.

The Branch: A coming ‘him’ from David possessing wisdom

But this prophecy also looked further into the future than just the cutting down of the kings. Isaiah predicted that the ‘stump’ would look dead, as stumps do. Nonetheless, one day in the far future a shoot, known as the Branch, would emerge from that stump. Certain trees have this capability to send up shoots from stumps. Isaiah used this natural process to help us picture how the Branch would come. Isaiah refers to this Branch as a ‘him’ so Isaiah is talking about a specific man, coming from the line of David after the dynasty’s fall. This man would have such qualities of wisdom, power, and knowledge it would be as if the very Spirit of God would be resting on him.

Jesus … A ‘him’ from David possessing wisdom

Jesus fits the requirement of coming ‘from the stump of Jesse’ since Jesse and David were his ancestors. What makes Jesus very unusual is the wisdom and understanding he possessed. His shrewdness, poise and insight in dealing with opponents and disciples continue to impress both critics and followers ever since. His power in the gospels through miracles is undeniable. One may choose not to believe them; but one cannot ignore them. Jesus fits the quality of possessing exceptional wisdom and power that Isaiah predicted would one day come from this Branch.

Jeremiah and The Branch

Isaiah laid down a signpost in history with that prophecy. But it did not end there. His signpost is only the first of several signs. Jeremiah, living about 150 years after Isaiah, when David’s dynasty was actually being cut down before his very eyes wrote:

“The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The LORD our Righteousness“.
Jeremiah 23:5-6

Jeremiah expands on the Branch theme of David’s dynasty started by Isaiah 150 years earlier. The Branch will be a King who reigns. But this is exactly what Psalm 2 prophecy said of the coming Son of God/Christ/Messiah. Could it be that the Branch and the Son of God are one and the same?

The Branch: The LORD our Righteousness

But what is this Branch to be called? He would be called the ‘LORD’ who will also be ‘our’ (that is – us humans) Righteousness. As we saw with Abraham, the problem for humans is that we are ‘corrupt’, and so we need ‘righteousness’. Here, in describing the Branch, Jeremiah hints that in the future people would get their needed ‘righteousness’ by the LORD – YHWH himself. (YHWH is the name for God in the Old Testament). But how would this be done? Zechariah fills in more details as he develops further about the Coming Branch. He even predicts the name of Jesus – which we look at next.

Month: January 2017

The Branch: Named hundreds of years before his birth