Throughout the Old Testament, prophets frequently speak about an image of the coming branch, which may seem a little strange. Why were Old Testament prophets so excited about a branch, and not simply concerned with the whole tree? The image comes from a story. Psalm 80 captures this story well as it speaks of the Lord bringing Israel (the vine) out of Egypt in Exodus.
“You transplanted a vine from Egypt;
you drove out the nations and planted it.
You cleared the ground for it,
and it took root and FILLED THE LAND.
The mountains were covered with its shade,
the mighty cedars with its branches.
Its branches reached as far as the Sea,
its shoots as far as the River.”
Psalm 80:8-11
So, now, we come back to the question. Why were the prophets so excited to predict just a branch instead of looking at the whole tree? Simply, there was nothing left of God’s vineyard. There was no tree. There was only a stump. And so a branch coming out of a stump is a beautiful picture of RESTORATION, of A MESSIAH COMING TO THOSE who had been cut down and exiled.
“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 of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of might,
the Spirit of the knowledge and FEAR OF THE LORD—
and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.”
Isaiah 11:1-2
The Virgin Birth
“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign. The virgin will conceive and give birth to a Son and will call Him IMMANUEL (God with us).” (Isaiah 7:14)