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The Holy Scriptures, including both the Old Testament and the New Testament, use various plants, trees, and flowers to signify God, Christ, the church, the saints, and the world. This lesson covers eight items: the Shoot of Jehovah, the Shoot of David, a twig coming forth from the stem of Jesse, a branch from Jesse’s roots, the root of Jesse, a tender plant growing up before Jehovah and a root out of dry ground, the fruit, and a green fir tree.
Isaiah 4:2 says, “In that day the Shoot of Jehovah will be beauty and glory.” Shoot in Hebrew denotes a new, tender sprout, indicating the initial development of the growth of a tree. This shows the initial development of the divinity of God in Christ through incarnation (John 1:14). Christ as the incarnated God is the shooting forth, the sprouting, of divinity.
The Shoot of Jehovah typifies not only Christ’s divinity but the sprouting and development of Christ’s divinity through the incarnation of God.
The Shoot of Jehovah is the sprouting of God in Christ. This sprouting comes out of God as the branching out of God Himself for His expression.
The sprouting and development of God in Christ are for the expression of all the riches of divinity in Christ’s humanity, that is, for the rich attributes of divinity to be developed into the virtues of Christ, the God-man, in His humanity.
In the development of the divinity in Christ, its sprouting is the beginning of the growth of the divinity in Christ. This growth will increase until it reaches its goal, that is, the expression of the glory and beauty of divinity.
The development of the divinity in Christ began with His incarnation, in which He was born to be a God-man. Then it passed through His human living on earth for thirty-three and a half years, in which the divine attributes were expressed in His human virtues, and it also passed through His life-releasing death. Eventually, it reached His resurrection, in which He entered into glory.
“That day” in Isaiah 4:2 refers to the day of restoration in the kingdom age. By passing through ascension Christ was made Lord and Christ (Acts 2:33-36), seated on the right hand of the throne of God (Heb. 12:2), and crowned with glory and honor (2:9). In the day that Christ comes back, the consummate development of the divinity in Him will be manifested as beauty and glory; that is, His divinity will be manifested in the brilliant splendor, precious worth, and dignified position in His kingship in His humanity.
Christ is God as man with divinity and humanity. Hence, the Old Testament uses two shoots to signify His two natures of divinity and humanity. The Shoot of Jehovah signifies Christ’s divinity, whereas the Shoot of David (Jer. 23:5) signifies Christ’s humanity. The development of His divinity is from His incarnation to the manifestation of His beauty and glory, that is, the manifestation of His divinity in splendor. The development of His humanity is from His birth as the Son of Man to the uplifting of His humanity into His divinity in resurrection, that is, the mingling of His humanity with His divinity for Him to be the firstborn Son of God with two natures—divinity and humanity (Rom. 8:29).
Christ was born as a human baby (Luke 2:12), grew up through childhood (vv. 40-43), and at the age of thirty became a complete man (3:23). This is the development and growth of Christ in His humanity as the Shoot of David living for God.
The development and growth of Christ in His humanity is the development and growth of His humanity in His divinity, that His humanity may be filled with divinity and that His divinity may live out all the divine attributes through His humanity in His human virtues.
The development of Christ’s humanity is related to the development of His divinity that He may be a God-man who enters into glory in both divinity and humanity. He passed through incarnation and arrived at His resurrection out of death to enter into the glory of His divinity. Then in resurrection He ascended to heaven and was exalted, and through His ascension He entered into the state of reigning in the kingdom. In the restoration of all things in the coming kingdom, the kingship of Christ with His humanity, which has attained to the highest state, will manifest the splendor of the glory of His fullness, as prophesied in Jeremiah 23:5 and 33:15.
The development of Christ as the Shoot of Jehovah and the Shoot of David will attain not only to the glorious condition of the kingdom in the coming age but also to the condition of the consummate glory in full in the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and new earth for eternity. In eternity He will be the Shoot of Jehovah and the Shoot of David—the God-man as the development of the Shoot of Jehovah and man, attaining to the full glory in the ultimate consummation.
Jesse was David’s father (Ruth 4:22), and in the Old Testament the house of Jesse was considered a great tree. At the time of David, this great tree developed into a royal family. Because of the sins committed by David’s son Solomon, however, this royal house declined and lost over ninety percent of its kingdom, even losing the land which God had given to them, so that the people were captured and the nation perished. It was like a tree that had been cut down with only a stump, a stem, remaining; this was the stump of Jesse (Isa. 11:1a). From this stump came forth a sprout, Christ (Matt. 1:16), at the time of Mary and her husband, Joseph, both of whom were descendants of David (Luke 3:23-32). A sprout in Hebrew denotes a small branch as a stick or a twig; hence, in Proverbs 14:3 the same word is rendered rod.
In the Scriptures Christ is first likened to a tree, such as the tree of life (Gen. 2:9), the true vine (John 15:1), and the apple tree (S. S. 2:3). Then He is likened to the shoot of a tree, a sprout, a root, and eventually to fruit on a tree (Luke 1:42).
The stump of Jesse implies that the descendants of Jesse had been cut down. When Christ was born as Jesus, both His mother, Mary, and Mary’s husband, Joseph, were people of a lowly family, living in Nazareth, a despised city. He was not brought forth from the stump or branch of a flourishing great tree; He was a small sprout brought forth from a dried up stem, or stump, of a tree that had been cut down.
Christ came out of the family of Jesse, and Jesse had a son named David. Hence, the sprout which came forth from the stump of Jesse also typifies that Christ was the son of David (Matt. 1:1), the One who would inherit the throne of David (Luke 1:31-33). This implies that although He was born of a poor family as a poor and humble person, eventually He became the Christ of God, the Messiah, to be the King of God’s elect for eternity.
The book of Isaiah contains prophecies concerning Christ in His divinity, such as the Shoot of Jehovah (4:2), Immanuel (7:14), the Mighty God, the Eternal Father (9:6), the root of Jesse (11:10; cf. Rev. 22:16), and the arm of Jehovah (Isa. 53:1), and concerning Christ in His humanity, such as a sprout coming forth from the stump of Jesse, a branch from the roots of Jesse (11:1), a child (9:6), a tender plant, a root out of dry ground (53:2), a lamb, a sheep (v. 7), and an offering for sin (v. 10). The sprout that came forth from the stump of Jesse linked Christ in His humanity not only to Jesse and David but also to the entire royal tribe of Judah, as seen in the blessing with which Jacob and Moses blessed Israel (Gen. 49:9-10; Deut. 33:7).
In the sprout that came forth from the stump of Jesse, we can also see the history of Christ’s becoming a man in His humanity who first humbled Himself and then was exalted with honor. This is the process of Christ in His humanity.
A sprout comes forth from the stump of a tree, but a branch is from the roots of a tree. Therefore, the source of the branch is deeper than that of the sprout. The source of the sprout is above the earth, but the source of the branch is underneath the earth. The branch can supply the sprout; the sprout cannot supply the branch. The branch from the roots of Jesse typifies that Christ was a branch that came out of the roots of Jesse. The root, the source, of Jesse, was God; the branch of Jesse, that is, that which was born of Jesse, was a man. This signifies that Christ came out of God to become a man. Hence, He was the God-man. Inwardly, He came out of God; outwardly, He was manifested as a man. He was God who became a man to be the Christ of God for the carrying out of God’s eternal purpose.
Isaiah 11:10 says, “In that day the root of Jesse, / Who stands as a banner to the peoples— / Him will the nations seek.” Root denotes the source, the origin. The root of Jesse typifies Christ as the source, the origin, of Jesse. In the prophecies in Isaiah we see that Christ in His divinity is the Shoot of Jehovah and the root of Jesse, and that Christ in His humanity is the sprout coming forth from the stump of Jesse, the branch from the root of Jesse, the tender plant that grows, and the root out of dry ground (53:2). In His divinity Christ came out of God; God is His origin. Hence, Christ is the source, the origin, of Jesse. In His humanity Christ came out of Jesse; therefore, Jesse is His origin, His source. He is the sprout and branch of Jesse, and He is also the root of Jesse. He is everything concerning Jesse. According to His humanity, He came out of Jesse; according to His divinity, He brought forth Jesse.
In Revelation 5:5 the root of Jesse is called the Root of David, indicating that Christ was the source of Jesse and also the source of Jesse’s son David. Hence, although David was Christ’s forefather, he called Him Lord (Matt. 22:42-45).
Isaiah also likened Christ to a tender plant growing up before Jehovah and a root out of dry ground (53:2). Christ’s growing up before Jehovah was a matter before God. A tender plant growing up refers to Christ in His childhood. In God’s eyes, when Christ was born to be a man, He grew up before God even as a child. Christ’s coming out of dry ground was a matter before men. A root growing downward refers to Christ in His youth. In man’s eyes Christ came out of a poor family as dry ground. This shows that from the time of His childhood and youth, Christ lived a life of godliness before God and a life of hardships before men. He lived such a life on earth for His whole life.
In Luke 1:42 Elizabeth said that the baby in Mary’s womb, which was Christ in His conception, was the fruit. Here and in Acts 2:30 (“fruit of his loins”), fruit is used to denote Christ as a human offspring. In Isaiah 4:2 (“the fruit of the earth”) it is used to denote Christ’s humanity, and in Revelation 22:2 it is used to denote the fruit of the tree of life. Fruits are produced by trees to be food to man. The Bible likens Christ not only to a tree but also to the fruit produced by the tree. Thus, the Bible uses figures and signs to show that Christ is the root of the tree, the tree itself, the shoot of the tree, the branch of the tree, and the fruit produced by the tree. He is the fruit of Mary and of David; He is God becoming man to bring God into man that we may eat of Him as the tree of life.
In Hosea 14:8 God said that He is like a green fir tree. A green fir tree never grows old or dries up but is evergreen. It is a symbol of God, who never changes and who is ever new. God is the eternal God, and His life is the eternal life. Hence, He is ever-existing, ever-unchanging, and ever new. God never grows old or becomes worn; He is the same from beginning to end. He is ever-unchanging and ever-unfailing toward His people; He is always new and never grows old, and He never fades away. Therefore, assuredly, we can trust in Him. We receive our fruit from Him.
The Holy Scriptures use various plants, trees, and flowers to signify God, Christ, the church, the saints, and the world. In this lesson we have covered eight representative items. The Shoot of Jehovah typifies Christ’s divinity and the sprouting of Christ’s divinity through the incarnation of God. It also typifies the divinity that sprouted in Christ to develop from His incarnation to His entering into glory in His resurrection and then to pass through His ascension to attain to His beauty and glory in the kingdom age.
The Shoot of David typifies the development and growth of Christ’s humanity. The development of His humanity began with His birth as the Son of Man and passed through His human living on earth, in which His humanity was filled with divinity, and His divinity lived out all the divine attributes through His humanity in His human virtues. Then it arrived at the uplifting of His humanity into His divinity in resurrection, that is, the mingling of His humanity with His divinity for Him to be the firstborn Son of God with divinity and humanity, the One who is glorified in divinity and humanity and who will manifest the splendor of the glory of His fullness in the restoration of all things in the coming kingdom. Eventually, it will attain to the condition of the consummate glory in full in the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and new earth.
The sprout coming forth from the stump of Jesse typifies Christ as the descendant of Jesse who came out of a lowly family; it also typifies Christ as the descendant of David who inherited the throne of David. Although He was born of a poor family, eventually He became the Christ, the Messiah, of God to be the King of God’s elect for eternity. This indicates that the history of Christ’s becoming a man in His humanity is that He first humbled Himself and then was exalted with honor.
The branch from Jesse’s roots typifies that Christ was a branch that came out of the roots of Jesse. The root, the source, of Jesse was God; the branch of Jesse, that is, that which was born of Jesse, was a man. This indicates that Christ came out of God to become a man. He was the God-man for the carrying out of God’s eternal economy.
The root of Jesse typifies Christ as the source, the origin, of Jesse. In His divinity Christ came out of God; God was His origin. Hence, He was the root, the source, the origin, of Jesse. The root of Jesse is also called the Root of David, indicating that Christ was also the source of David. Hence, although David was Christ’s forefather, he called Him Lord.
The tender plant growing up before Jehovah and the root out of dry ground indicate that when Christ was born to be a man, He grew up before God even as a child. Moreover, in man’s eyes He came out of a poor family as dry ground. Christ lived a life of godliness before God and a life of hardships before men for His whole life.
Fruits are produced by trees to be food to man. The Bible likens Christ not only to a tree but also to the fruit produced by the tree. As the fruit of Mary, He was Christ in conception; as the fruit of David, He was a human offspring. He was God becoming man to bring God into man that we may eat of Him as the tree of life.
The green fir tree never grows old or dries up but is evergreen. It is a symbol of God, who never changes and who is ever new. God is ever unchanging and ever unfailing toward His people. He is always new and never grows old, and He never fades away. Hence, assuredly, we may trust in Him.
