I Will Raise Up a Righteous Branch
God’s Messianic Promise in Jeremiah 23:5
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There are different titles to give the son whom God promised to send for our salvation. He’s the son of Abraham, the son of David, the serpent-crusher, the Prince of Peace, the Anointed One, the Stone that would be rejected, the good and faithful Shepherd, and the list could keep expanding.
Each of these notions is based on Old Testament expectations about what the promised deliverer would do and who he would be.
Have you ever reflected on the promise in Jeremiah 23:5 and the title used there? God said, “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.”
We need to make several observations here. First, “I will raise up for David” is a callback to God’s covenant with David, which is found in 2 Samuel 7:12–13. In those verses God promised a future descendant who would occupy the Davidic throne.
“When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever” (2 Sam. 7:12–13).
God’s act “for David” (Jer. 23:5) is a promise-keeping act. God had formed a covenant, and he would fulfill what he said he would do “for David.”
Second, the Davidic descendant would “reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land” (Jer. 23:5). The world needs righteousness. Who will bring the righteousness that this world needs? The Davidic king.
Other prophetic statements confirm that David’s descendant will rule in righteousness. In Isaiah 9, the prophet says that the promised son would establish and uphold peace “with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore” (Isa. 9:7).
The promised figure in Jeremiah 23 was not someone different from the person in Isaiah 9. Rather, both chapters spoke of the same future Davidic descendant who would bring justice and righteousness to God’s world.
Third, the image used for the Davidic king is a branch. Notice that the Lord says, “I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king…” (Jer. 23:5).
A branch grows from something that is planted. According to the metaphor, the Davidic king is a messianic branch, something that grew from a Davidic family tree. This connection with a “branch” and David’s family is confirmed in Isaiah 11, where the prophet says, “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit” (Isa. 11:1).
According to Isaiah 11:2, this “shoot” or “branch” is a “him,” and in 11:4–5 this future figure shall act with “righteousness.” This is the same promised son in Isaiah 9 and Jeremiah 23.
In Genesis 3:15, God plants the promise of a future son who will be victorious through suffering. And across the Old Testament, that promise grows. Jesus is the Branch emerging from the messianic hope that grows not only through the Old Testament but through David’s family in particular.
Jesus was born because God was keeping his covenant promise to “raise up for David a righteous Branch” (Jer. 23:5).