The prophet Isaiah declared, ‘In that day the Branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious; and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and appealing for those of Israel who have escaped. And it shall come to pass that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy [sanctified] – everyone who is recorded among the living in Jerusalem.’ Isa 4:2‑3.

In the first instance, the Branch of the Lord is Christ. The prophet Zechariah declared, ‘Behold, the Man whose name is the BRANCH! From His place He shall branch out, and He shall build the temple of the Lord.’ Zec 6:12. Jeremiah described this branch as ‘an almond tree’. Jer 1:11. Significantly, the lampstand of Moses’ tabernacle was fashioned in the form of an almond tree. Exo 25:31‑40.

Christ ‘branches out’ as we, who are living stones, are being built together into the temple of His body. Joh 2:21. Eph 2:19‑22. His body is the church, which is depicted in the book of Revelation as seven golden lampstands. Col 1:18. Rev 1:20. Importantly, those in the seven churches who receive Christ’s initiative to cleanse them from the presumption of eating their own food and wearing their own apparel, are obtaining their sanctification as those who are left in Zion and are remaining in the New Jerusalem. They are being established as part of a lampstand church. It is described as ‘beautiful and glorious’, manifesting the fruit of light, which is the sevenfold Spirit of God, in the whole world.

Notably, those who ‘have escaped’ the judgement of God, by choosing to participate in the offering and sufferings of Christ, are ‘recorded among the living in Jerusalem’. Their names are recorded in the book of life, which is the tree of life in the middle of the heavenly city. Rev 22:19. The substance of their sonship is fed to them by the Spirit through the fruit of the tree of life as they participate in the Lord’s agape meal.