You Are My BattleAXE

As we examine the first verse further, it tells us that a branch shall grow out of His roots. This means an extension of the same nature will spring forth out of the Rod of Jesse. Strong renders the root of the word “branch” in this Isaiah prophecy as meaning an extending rod or ruling scepter.

The branch, therefore, is part of the Rod of Jesse, in the same way a branch is part of the vine: it is a rod coming forth from the Rod of Jesse. The branch in Isaiah is synonymous with the branches the Lord Himself mentioned in the gospel of John: “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5).

The Lord Jesus, speaking to the church, said, “I am the Vine, ye are the branches.” The branches are part of the vine. The life in the branches comes from the vine. The branches are living extensions of the vine, just as in Isaiah the branch is the extension of the Rod out of the stem of Jesse. The branch represents the corporate body, which consists of extension rods emanating from the Rod of Jesse. These are His servants, His anointed ones at the end time. And they have been anointed with the same anointing as Christ the Rod of God, the Chief Overcomer and Anointed One, for they are part of His body.

Who or What Is the Rod of His Strength?

The branch coming out of the Rod of Jesse, the branches springing forth from the Vine, His anointed ones coming out of Zion—these all represent the company of overcomers out of Zion. This company, out of the church and part of the Body of Christ, is the instrument by which God will subdue all of Christ’s enemies under His feet. It is through them that Christ will rule in the midst of His enemies; for they are His threshing instruments, His battle axe, and His weapons of war.

“Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! When God bringeth back the captivity of his people Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.” (Psa 53:6)

The company of overcomers out of the church is the Rod of Christ’s Strength, which the Lord is sending out as His ruling extension or His scepter here on earth. These are His hands and feet, His special forces, His republic guard. These are the saviors the prophet Obadiah spoke about that “shall come up on Mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the Lord’s” (Oba 1:21).

God used David as His battle axe to defeat the Philistines. In the same manner, God desires to use you and me in spiritual warfare, as His battle-axe, the extension rod of His strength, against the enemy to deliver any of His children under satanic bondage.

The Rod of Jesse is what God sent into the kingdom of Satan to bring deliverance to humanity under the dominion of the devil. This was prefigured earlier in the rod Moses brought from the desert to the courts of Pharaoh. God appeared to Moses in the wilderness of Midian, and spoke to him out of the burning bush. And the Lord God said to him:

“I am the God of thy father,the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God. And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;

“And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the anaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites” (Exo 3:6-9).

God then told Moses that he was the man He planned to send to Pharaoh to bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt. Moses would not have it. He presented several excuses while he believed he could not do the job. Moses complained, “Who am I, that I should gounto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?” (Exo 3:11).

In order to allay Moses’ fears, God said, “Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain” (Exo 3:12). But Moses was still not persuaded. He asked God, “When I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?” (Exo 3:13).

God was patient with Moses and answered this question as well, saying: “I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.

I pray that the Lord will be patient with us also as we navigate through our doubts and unwillingness to obey Him promptly. I pray He will not give up on us but that He will continue to nurture and enlighten, encourage and push us until He succeeds in making a useful instrument out of us for His Kingdom.

“Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with the will I destroy kingdoms; And with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider; and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and his rider” (Jer 51:20).