DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- THE BRANCH

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – THE BRANCH

" '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; yes, He shall build the temple of the LORD.  He shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule on His throne; so He shall be a priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both." ' "  (Zechariah 6:12-13)

God was revealing to Zechariah things in the distant future when Jesus would set up His throne during His thousand year reign during the Millennium.  Jesus will come out of His home in Heaven to be priest and king to rule on His throne.  

He is called The Branch.  This is a play on words.  The word "branch" means to sprout, to spring up, to grow up.  The same Hebrew word is used two times in this verse when it says His name will be The Branch because He will branch out.  He will come out of His place – Heaven – and spring up here on Earth.  

Isaiah prophesied that "There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots.  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 of the fear of the LORD" (Isaiah 11:1-2).  This is similar to the prophecy about the coming of the Messiah in Isaiah chapter 53 when he wrote, "He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground" (Isaiah 53:2). 

Jesus will come in the future to set up His Kingdom where He will rule with 

righteousness and peace.  But He has already the first time and He has set up His Kingdom in the hearts and lives of people who have received Him as King.  He has built and is building a temple where He resides.  The Apostle Paul says that we have 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" (Ephesians 2:19-22). 

We don't have to wait until the Millenium to experience the Kingship of the Lord Jesus.  He is King of His kingdom now.

Love, Dad