I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify these things to you for the assemblies. I am the root and the offspring of David; the Bright and Morning Star. (Revelation 22:16)

This is the last actual description of Jesus the Anointed One in the Bible. (You will recall that the first description said he was to be the seed of the woman who would crush the head of the serpent.)

This now is Jesus’ final personal testimony of himself in the Bible.

To reject this testimony is not only to reject Jesus as he solemnly declares himself to be, but to make him out to be a liar.

A lot of people don’t realize how clearly Jesus testified to his being “just a man.” That’s because a lot of people mistakenly believe that when Jesus said he was “ the root and the offspring of David” that the “root” part was a reference to his supposed “deity.” I confess I used to believe and teach that myself. For Onenessians, “root” is supposedly a code word that refers to Jesus’ deific nature, while “the offspring” supposedly refers to his human nature. However, that idea is a completely man-made fabrication with absolutely no basis in Scripture. Even worse, it negates what Jesus was clearly and explicitly testifying to.

In all of the occurrences of the word “root” in the Bible, not once can any one of them be shown to be ascribed to God in any way. That’s 42 times in the World English Bible and 44 times in the KJV.

In common, everyday language, what would you think the word “root” means or signifies? Wouldn’t you think of an integral part of a plant that plays a certain role in supporting that plant? For example, a carrot is a root. Does a carrot preexist the plant, or is it part of the whole organism of the carrot plant? The latter, right?

That is precisely how the Bible uses the term root. For example, take a look at Job 14:10, where we can see the contrast between “man,” who does not have roots, and “trees,” which actually do take root. As you read the description of the tree that takes root, ask yourself if this is in any way a clear reference to God.

¹Man, who is born of a woman, Is of few days, and full of trouble. ²He comes forth like a flower, and is cut down. He also flees like a shadow, and doesn’t continue… ⁷For there is hope for a tree, If it is cut down, that it will sprout again, That the tender branch of it will not cease. ⁸Though the root of it grows old in the earth, And the stock of it dies in the ground; ⁹Yet through the scent of water it will bud, And put forth boughs like a plant. ¹⁰But man dies, and is laid low. Yes, man gives up the spirit, and where is he? (Job 14:1–10)

As we can see, the root is part of the tree. The point here is that man isn’t entirely like a tree; if man is cut down, he is dead. A tree, on the other hand, can still regrow because its life is still in the root; thus, in the cut-down tree there is still hope. It is precisely in this way that Jesus said he was the root of David. He is of the lineage of David that will bring productive, visible life back to the kingdom of David as God promised.

On the other hand, nothing in this analogy of the “root” is said to represent God.

One of the classic uses of “root” in the OT was God’s promise to the remnant people of Judah, who would escape from Sennacherib, king of Assyria.

³⁰The remnant that has escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward. ³¹ For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and out of Mount Zion those who shall escape: the zeal of YHWH shall perform this. (2 Kings 19:30–31)

In this case, the “root” analogy was applied to the whole family of Judah. Although much of the family may die off or be scattered, there is a remnant, a small number of individuals that can be likened to the root of a tree. So the word “root” was being used in a similar way to the analogy we saw in Job 14. Paul explained in Romans 9:27 that a “remnant shall be saved.” He elaborated this point very clearly in Romans 11:5, where he wrote that in his time there was a remnant of the seed of Israel. Accordingly, the word “root” points to the word “remnant,” which in turn points to the people of God. It never refers in Scripture to God, or deity, or Jesus’ deific nature. It is always used in a context such as this, with reference to human beings.

Jesus explained what he meant by being the root when he said this: ¹ “I am the true vine, and my Father is the farmer… ⁵I am the vine. You are the branches” (John 15:1–5).

According to Jesus, in this analogy he is the same organism (vine/vegetation) as we are. On the other hand, and quite to the contrary, the Father alone (being typified as the “farmer”) is in a kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species all His own, quite exclusive of the rest of us—including Jesus!

Note carefully that Jesus is only part of the plant, and still a very physical part of this organism. This passage is very much like Paul’s discussion in 1 Corinthians 12 saying that we are the body of Christ. All of this is still very much in line with the picture of the Israelite remnant as a single organism.

Thus, this analogy of Jesus being the vine and his followers being the branches refutes both modalism and Trinitarianism.

Now then, what do the scriptural prophecies specifically teach about Jesus being the “Root” of David?

It will happen in that day that the nations will seek the root of Jesse, who stands as a banner of the peoples; and his resting place will be glorious. (Isaiah 11:10)

Jesse was the father of King David. The subsequent passages in Isaiah explain who the root is, and it is the remnant of God’s people.

It will happen in that day that the Lord will set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant that is left of his people from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. He will set up a banner for the nations, and will assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. (Isaiah 11:11–12)

So, quite explicitly, a root can signify a remnant of people. Such is the biblical context for Jesus claiming in Revelation 22:16 that he is the root and offspring of David. In making this statement, Jesus was referring completely to his humanity and descent from David, his being of the human lineage of David and the ultimate reason and purpose for the Davidic kingdom that Jesus was to inherit. Nowhere in the Bible does “root” mean God the Father; that idea is just a man-made assumption that hides and changes Jesus’ real meaning in his self-testimony.

In the NT, Paul referred to the above prophesy of Isaiah’s and testified that Jesus was the root that was to come; thus, not a root that had always existed (such as God always existed).

Again, Isaiah says, “There will be the root of Jesse, He who arises to rule over the Gentiles; On him will the Gentiles hope.” (Romans 15:12)

Another interesting thing about the “root of Jesse” is that “the Spirit of Yahweh will rest on him… The Spirit of knowledge and the fear of Yahweh… his delight will be in the fear of Yahweh” (Isaiah 11:1–3). Would God need to have his own Spirit rest upon him? Would God need to be filled with the Spirit of the fear of Yahweh? Would God fear Himself? Such ideas are, of course, ridiculous and show that the root of Jesse was simply not an incarnation of Yahweh Himself.

Note that in Revelation 22:16, Jesus also referred to himself as the bright and morning star. The OT Scriptures also tell us what this means. And once again we find the same theme being reiterated; namely, the theme of human descent.

¹⁷I see him, but not now; I see him, but not near: There shall come forth a star out of Jacob, A scepter shall rise out of Israel… ¹⁹ Out of Jacob shall one have dominion… (Numbers 24:17, 19)

Numbers 24:17–19 teaches that a star will arise “out of” Jacob, once again indicating offspring. The star did not exist at that time (“not now”), and was not “near” at that time. And most importantly that star was to bear a scepter and have dominion. All of these concepts point to the predictions of the kingship of Jesus, which were made before he existed; that is, before he was born to Mary in Bethlehem. Thus these Scriptures show that it was ultimately Jesus who would be the prophesied ruler. And it is very clear that he comes out of Jacob and Israel. No word about him being the Father who would incarnate himself in the flesh; except in systems influenced by pagan ideas of incarnated gods (Acts 14:11) and Gnostic antichristian “dual nature” teachings like Tertullian’s.

So far, which of these ideas about a “root” does the word of God teach and support: that Jesus somehow actually preexisted his own birth, or that God foreknew what Christ would be as the “root and the offspring” of David? The latter is the truth; the former idea derives from pagan notions about incarnations of deity.

The bottom line is, it is Jesus’ own testimony of himself that Onenessians refute when they claim him, contrary to his self-testimony, to be a dual-natured, God-man.

Jesus declared himself to be the offspring of David, thus not a recreated form of humanity. He also testified to being the root of David, meaning the remnant of David’s lineage that would rise out of Israel and have dominion. This is the revelation of Jesus the Anointed One. He never reversed his earlier testimony that he was not alone and that he could of his own self do nothing.

Closing Section Four

In this section we have presented hundreds of Scriptures, either quoted or referenced for the reader, that clearly and explicitly hold the person of Jesus the Anointed One in distinct separation from God the Father. Any serious Bible student should take all these Scriptures very seriously in their view of Christ. In the following section, we will show that the proof texts of Onenessians are relatively small in number and are anything but clear in establishing, let alone stating, their doctrine.

 Print This Post