The Jesse Tree Series: the story of the Jesse Tree Part 1.

The Jesse Tree Series: 

The story of the Jesse Tree Part 1.

The Jesse Tree is named from Isaiah 11:1 

A shoot will spring forth from the stump of Jesse

and a branch out of his sons’.

The Jesse Tree is a vehicle to tell the Story of God in the Old Testament, and to connect the Advent Season with the faithfulness of across around 4.000 years of history.  The branch is the biblical sign of newness out of discouragement, which became a way to talk about the expect Messiah (e.g. Jeremiah 23:5). It is therefore an appropriate symbol of Jesus the Christ, who is the revelation of the grace and faithfulness of God.

The Israelites through the descendants of Abraham were chosen by God to be a light to the nations.  When they were imprisoned by the Egyptians, they cried out to God for deliverance from their oppression.  And God responded: 

'I have seen the misery of my people in Egypt, and I have heard their cry... I have come to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them to a good Land”. (Exodus 3:7-8).  

And so He entered history in a marvellous way to deliver them and bring them into a place where they could worship God and serve Him in peace and joy instead of serving Pharaoh in hard service.  God promised to be with them and to be their God, and they would be His people.

But as they settled into the land that God had given them, “they forgot God, their Deliverer, who had done great thing in Egypt” (psalm 106:21).  As they grew secure in the land, they began to believer that 

“ my power and the strength of my own hand have gotten me these things”.(Deut 8:17).  

Even though God had raised up godly leaders like David, later kings and religious leaders serve their own interests, and the people began to worship the false gods of the land.  They even gave offering to the idol ba’al, supposedly the god of rain and fertility of the land thanking him for the prosperity they enjoyed.


But God grieved because ‘she did not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the wine, and the oil, and who lavished upon her silver and gold that they used for ba’al (Hosea 2:8).  God had ‘planted them as choice vine from the purest stock” (Jeremiah 2:21) and had expected them to grow and flourish and carry out His purpose in the world.  But they had degenerated into a wild bush with worthless fruit.


Because they had forgotten God, they also forgot the call of God to ‘do justice, lovey mercy and walk humbly with your God” (Mic 6:8).  God sent prophets to warn them of the consequences of failing to be His people.  The prophet Amos warned them ‘seek me and live”.(Amos 5:4).  Through Jeremiah, God promised them that if they would turn from their wicked ways He would bless them and be with them in the land (7:5-7).  But God also said” Take heed, O Jerusalem, or I shall turn from you in disgust, and make you a desolation” (6:8)

Some of the people longed for new leaders, a new ‘anointed ‘(Heb meshiach; Eng: messiah) shepherd king like David who would help them to become what God had called them to be.  But most of the people would not listen.  They continued to worship the idols of ba’al.  They continued to cheat the poor, steal from each other, neglect the needy, and do all manner of evil.

So, God let them go their own way and suffer the consequences of their choices.  The Babylonian armies came and destroyed the temple, the city of Jerusalem, the land, and took the people into slavery.  The choice planting of God that had such promise, that God had tended so carefully and encouraged to grow, was cut down and became a mere stump (Isaiah 5:1-10).

Stay tuned for Part 2 (post of 2nd Sunday of Advent) of this hope filled story where God does not give up on His people. 

SCRIPTURE ASSOCIATED WITH THE JESSE TREE.
 As  we gather to read the scripture and prepare our Jesse tree, let us remember Jesse of Bethlehem. He was the father of David who became King.   On this first Sunday of Advent, let us gather our family together, read the first part of the story and spend the afternoon preparing our Jesse tree and symbol cut outs for this coming week.

There are two scripture passages which are relevant to the Jesse Tree:

·                     1 Samuel 16:1-13:

Samuel is sent to Bethlehem and the Lord orders him to anoint the boy David. This son of Jesse, of the tribe of Judah is to be the heir of the promise made to the patriarchs.  The spirit of the Lord descended and rested on David who became the type of the King Messiah. 

·                     Isaiah 11:1-10:

In this chapter Isaiah foretells the type of kingship of the Messiah.  The two important verses of this chapter are verses 1 and 6 respectively, since from this branch of the Jesse tree shall grow a kingdom of peace.
"There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots"

 
'The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. 

 SYMBOL 1: THE JESSE TREE What does the symbol mean?

The Jesse tree is a symbol of the stump of Jesus.  Jesus was a direct descendant of Jesse showing how this root grew to become a great sign for the nations.  The Jesse Tree continues to grow in the world through the Church. 

The first symbol is the tree itself which can be of several types.  A small artificial tree works fine, as does a tree branch that is anchored in a bucket or a large can of sand or gravel. The tree branch looks particularly attractive if painted white and sprinkled with silver glitter while the paint is still wet.

Another possibility is a large drawing of a tree on cardboard or poster board that can be hung on the wall.