LIVING WORD DEVOTIONAL
By Pastor Mensa Otabil
Friday 16th December 2022
BRANCH OF DAVID
Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 23
Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.” Jeremiah 23:5
This prophecy of Jeremiah pointed to the relationship between the Lord Jesus and King David. In His lifetime, Jesus was called the Son of David. God promised that the Messiah would come from the tribe of Judah and particularly, from the lineage of David.
The lineage of David produced many kings, though many of them fell away from the Lord. The promise indicated that God would raise a new Branch of Righteousness from the lineage of David.
Jesus was a different kind of King. The Wisemen who paid homage to Him at His birth enquired, ‘Where is He who has been born, king of the Jews?’ He was a king, but His rulership was not over the Jews but ‘in the earth’, as the prophet Jeremiah had prophesied.
As a descendant of David, Christ fulfilled the promises God had made to David.
Imagine the lineage of David as a tree that had dried up. For many years, no king had been born to the house of David. All the branches had dried up. Yet God promised that out of that dried up and forsaken tree, He would raise up a new branch. That promised branch was the coming Messiah – Jesus Christ.
At the time Christ – the Branch of David – was born, an imposter called Herod was king of Israel. It was in the palace of this imposter that the Wisemen went asking, ‘Where is he who has been born, king of the Jews?’ God has a sense of humour, doesn’t He?
Though David had been dead for hundreds of years, the Lord never went back on the promise He made to Him. Our God is a faithful God. While we are unfaithful, the Lord remains faithful. He honoured His promise to David in a way that David could never have anticipated: God the Son became a son of David!
Today, we can also trust the promises of God to us. Let us trust in the faithfulness of our covenant-keeping God.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, you are a faithful God. Your promises endure for all generations. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
