A Christmas Tree Story

The story begins with a young Jewish boy named David. God saw David’s heart and raised him from his humble position as a shepherd to be king over the whole nation of Israel. After David had become king, God made a promise to him saying:

 

“I took you from the pasture, from following sheep around, and made you leader over my people Israel. I have been with you and have given you victory. And I will make your name great. I will plant the people of Israel in their own land so they can grow in peace. And after you die, one of your own seed will become king. I will establish his kingdom so that your dynasty and your kingdom will always be before me. Your throne will be established forever.”

(From 2 Samuel 7:8-13)

 

David’s anointing was the fulfillment of many promises God had made to David’s ancestors hundreds of years prior. David was a descendant of a man named Judah who received this prophetic blessing from his father, Jacob:

 

“I will tell you what will happen to you in the days to come: Judah is like a powerful lion. The ruling scepter will never depart from Judah and he will receive the allegiance of all peoples.”

(From Genesis 49:9-10)

 

The roots of this prophetic promise go back even further to Judah’s grandfather, Isaac. God made a promise about Isaac’s mother saying:

 

“I will bless Sarah and give her a son. I will bless her so that her descendants will become nations of people. And many kings will come from her. She will have a son you shall name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for him and his descendants.”

(From Genesis 17:15-19)

 

 

These unconditional promises of a dynasty of kings were all related to another unconditional promise God made to Isaac’s father, Abraham. God told Abraham: 

 

“I will make you into a great nation. And I will make you great so that you will be a blessing. In you all the families in the world will be blessed.”

(From Genesis 12:2-3)

 

The family tree of David was a tree of blessing, the House of David a royal dynasty of kings meant to bring justice, salvation, and joy to the world. Rooted in God’s unbreakable promises to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Judah, the immovable tree of blessing would surely bear good fruit in the world. 

 

But it did not.

 

David’s son Solomon was a mixed blessing for the nation of Israel. He was wise and prosperous, but was also idolatrous and allowed the people to slide into evil. After Solomon, the northern tribes rejected the Davidic kings and the formerly unified nation split into the countries of Israel and Judah. All of the kings of Israel were terrible. But the Davidic kings, the heirs of God’s promise to David who ruled in Judah, surely these kings prospered, right? 

 

Nope.  

 

David’s grandson, Rehoboam bragged about the cruel, tyrannical rule he would inflict on the people (“My father’s yoke was heavy, but mine will be heavier. He beat you with whips, but I will use scorpions.” – I Kings 12:10-11). Later kings got even worse, not just with harsh rule, but also through idol worship, temple prostitution, and even child sacrifice (Jeremiah 7:30,31). Not only did the Tree of David utterly fail to usher in the era of blessing, peace and justice, it actually promoted injustice and despicable evil. The seeds and roots of promise were strong and healthy, but the branches were rotten. 

 

 

Interestingly, God never made unconditional covenants with the kings after David. His promises to these later kings were conditional. For example, God told David’s son, Solomon: 

 

“IF you walk before me as your father David did and obey all my commandments, then I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever as I promised your father, David. But IF you turn aside from following me, you or your children, and don’t obey my commandments, then I will cut off Israel from the land and this house will become a heap of ruins.” (From I Kings 9:1-9)

 

And that’s exactly what God did. The vast majority of the kings of Judah did not obey God’s commandments and their reigns were characterized by injustice. After countless times of refraining from punishing the nation “for the sake of my servant David” (I Kings11:13,32,34; II Kings 19:34; 20:6; Isaiah 37:35) and even delaying the inevitable punishment whenever a king repented (II Kings 20:16-19;22:15-20), God eventually chopped down the rotten tree. 

  

The last kings of Judah were not much more than vassals of the Babylonian empire. King Jehoiakim tried to rebel against Babylonian rule and was killed. His son Jehoiachin (Jeconiah) ruled only three months and ten days before getting hauled off to exile. 

 

Jehoiachin was replaced by his uncle, Zedekiah. Ignoring the warnings of the prophet Jeremiah, this final king of Judah also rebelled against Babylon. The Babylonians responded by laying siege to Jerusalem which brought unimaginable suffering to the people. Eventually, King Zedakiah was captured. He was forced to watch as all of his sons were put to death in front of him and then his own eyes were put out so that he would have to spend the rest of his days with that image burned into his memory (II Kings 25:1-7). He died in exile, blind and childless. 

 

So every member of the royal family died except for Jehoiachin who lived for a while as a slave in Babylon. But it gets even worse. Before being hauled away as a slave, here is what God had said about Jehoiachin:

 

“I will hurl you into another country and there you will die. You will never return to your land.”  Thus says the Lord: “Write this man down as childless, a man who will not succeed, for none of his offspring will ever sit on the throne of David or rule in Judah.”

(From Jeremiah 22:24-30)

 

Jehoiachin, the last hope, was cursed by God to never have his offspring sit on David’s throne. He too died childless in exile. Thus, this wicked line of kings descended from Solomon was totally cut off.  

 

 

But what about God’s promises? What about his unconditional covenants concerning Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, and David? Where was the king from the line of David who would one day bring justice to the world? Was there no hope?

God gave his answer through the prophets:

 

“There is hope for a tree, even if it is cut down,

That it will sprout again and grow.

Though its roots grow old in the earth,

And its stump sits dead in the dirt.

At the scent of water it can bud again,

And grow branches like a young plant.”

(From Job 14:7-9)

 

“The Lord will remove the people far away and the land will be forsaken.

And even if a tenth remain it will be burned again

like an oak tree that is chopped down and leaves only a stump.

But there is a holy seed in the stump.”

(From Isaiah 6:13)

 

“There will come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,

and a branch from his roots will bear fruit.

The Spirit of God will rest upon him.

He will love to obey God.

He will grant justice to the poor.

He will act righteously and bring peace to the world

and then everyone will know God.”

(From Isaiah 11:1-9)

 

“Behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, 

and he will reign as a wise king. 

He will bring justice and goodness to the land. 

In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will dwell securely. 

And his name will be: the LORD is our righteousness.” 

(From Jeremiah 23:5-6)

 

“Behold, I will send my Servant, the Branch, and I will take away the sins of the land in a single day.”

(From Zechariah 3:8-9)

 

 

 

The prophets made it clear that the hope was in the stump. You see, David had another son named Nathan who would have inherited the throne had Solomon not become king (I Chronicles 3:5). Very little is known about Nathan but we know he had an even lesser-known son named Mattatha, who had a son named Menna, who had a son named Melea. In this way, the royal bloodline of king David continued down through Nathan’s offspring, not with great fanfare, from king to famous king, but discretely, in inconspicuous humility. Eventually, one of these descendants of David through Nathan had a daughter named Mary (Luke 3:23-31). 

 

Mary had a very famous son named Jesus. Some people think he is the heir to all these promises made hundreds of years before his birth. They think he might be the promised king from the line of David come to fulfill the prophecies, take away sins, and usher in a kingdom of love, joy, peace, and justice. 

 

What do you think?