The Root of David

May 11

The Bible begins and ends with a tree. In Genesis, we find

“The LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he placed the man he had formed. The LORD God caused to grow out of the ground every tree pleasing in appearance and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the garden, as well as the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” (Gen 2:8-9)

From the beginning, we already see the importance of tree imagery, which will continue throughout the Bible. In Genesis, the two trees represent two different things. The Tree of Life represents eternal life, while the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is a test of faith (Bible Project). In the Garden of Eden, the Tree of Life represents the source of life that we find in God alone. The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil represents a test that measures if we will submit to God or try to take control and authority into our own hands (hint: we fail the test).

What follows is humanity trying to find a way back to the life God offered from the beginning. We see humans trying and failing over and over until God offers us hope once more. We see God offer hope with Abraham in the covenant God makes with him that promises that “all the peoples on earth will be blessed through [him]” (Gen 12:3b). This hope happens again with Moses when he encounters God at the burning bush (another tree). God says,

“‘Go and assemble the elders of Israel and say to them: The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to me and said: I have paid close attention to you and to what has been done to you in Egypt. And I have promised you that I will bring you up from the misery of Egypt to…a land flowing with milk and honey.’” (Exodus 3:16-17)

The promise that was initially made to Abraham is still seeing fulfillment when God frees Israel from slavery in Egypt. Later, God again offers hope with His covenant to David, saying, “‘I will raise up after you your descendant, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom…Your house and kingdom will endure before me forever, and your throne will be established forever.’” (2 Sam 7:12,16). This promise has both a now and future fulfillment. The immediate fulfillment happens when King David’s son Solomon becomes king upon David’s death. However, there is a future fulfillment in Jesus, the anointed King of kings. The promise God makes to David resides in a descendant.

Interestingly, the descendant of David referenced in 2 Samuel 7:12 is also called the “seed” in some translations. Offspring, descendants, are seeds planted from previous generations that sprout and become new life. The name Root of David or Root of Jesse (David’s father) works similarly. The root sprouts from an original root of the plant and is thus the offspring of the primary plant.

I found a fascinating example of this in the aspen tree. In the Fishland National Forest outside of Salt Lake City, Utah, there is an aspen tree colony called Pando (from the Latin meaning “I spread”). Pando is the largest and likely oldest living organism on the planet. The 40,000-plus aspen trees that make up this organism share one root system originating from one seed. Each tree’s root sprouted from the original root system to form a new tree that was still connected to the whole.

This example beautifully symbolizes the life we experience in Christ–the seed (Isa 6:13), the branch (Jer 23:5), the root and descendant of David (Isa 11:10, Rev 22:16). When we believe Christ as our Savior, we become a new creation in Him (2 Cor 5:17). We are the branches Jesus speaks about in John 15:

“‘Remain in me and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produce much fruit, because you can do nothing without me.’” (15:4-5)

Like the aspen tree colony growing from an original seed and root, we grow from our root, who is Jesus Christ, becoming new “trees” that share our life in Christ with others. (This is a whole other tangent that I cannot do justice to, so I recommend listening to the Bible Project podcast series on the Tree of Life.)

This brings us to the tree that ends the Bible in Revelation: “The tree of life was on each side of the river, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree are for healing the nations, and there will no longer be any curse” (22:2b-3a). The tree of life in Genesis and Revelation is a source of life and blessing. When we “eat” from the tree, we experience life with God. The “Tree of Life Video Notes” from the Bible Project say it this way, “God is the giver of life, and the tree is at the center of the temple-garden. Proximity to the tree is significant in the sense that it brings one in proximity to the author of life.” We can bring the seed, root, and tree imagery full circle when we consider God the Source and Sustainer of all life. Jesus the Son is the Seed and the Root from which our new life sprouts. Logically, then, would this make God the ultimate Tree of Life?

After Jesus shares the vision of the tree of life with John, He goes on to say that He is coming soon, but He also says, “‘I am the root and descendant of David, the bright morning star’” (Rev 22:16b). Jesus circles back around to the promise that was made in ages past to King David (and the people of Israel, and by virtue of the promise to Abraham – a promise for the world):

“‘The LORD himself will make a house for you…I will raise up after you your descendant, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.’” (2 Sam 7:11-13)

The tree of life is part of the throne room and city of God; it straddles the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev 22:1-2). Jesus is the root of David, the promised seed and heir who would reign as King forever.

I do not believe we can do anything less than the psalmists when they proclaim:

“Say among the nations: ‘The LORD reigns.
The world is firmly established; it cannot be shaken.
He judges the peoples fairly.’
Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice;
let the sea and all that fills it resound.
Let the fields and everything in them celebrate.
Then all the trees of the forest will shout for joy
before the LORD, for he is coming–
for he is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness
and the peoples with his faithfulness.” (Psalm 96:10-13)

Thus ends our series on the “I Am” statements in John and Revelation. Thank you for joining me on this journey, and I pray that you have experienced God’s word in a fresh way that draws you closer to Him.

The Root of David

The Living One (or The Prophet, Priest, and King)