Saturday, June 15, 2013

JEHOVAH-TSIDKENU – THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS


The name of God that is the subject of this post is used only by the prophet Jeremiah and only twice.  The context of each is significant to the future in connection with Bible prophecy.  In each instance the LORD is revealing His plan to place a righteous descendant of David to serve as King on the throne of Israel from which he will rule over the whole earth.

Jeremiah 23:5-6 “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.  In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.”

Jeremiah 33:14-16 “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah.  In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land. In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The LORD our righteousness.”

The fulfillment of this prophecy is critical to the testimony of the character of YHWH, the self-existent, eternal God.  Scripture everywhere declares that God is a covenant keeper and that His word never fails.

When God established David on the throne of Israel, He promised that David would never lack a descendant to his throne and that his kingdom would endure forever.

2 Samuel 7:8–16 “Now therefore so shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, from following the sheep, to be ruler over my people, over Israel…I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more… And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever…thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.”

Isaiah 55:11 “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.”

The people of Israel were scattered among the nations due to God’s judgment for rejecting the Messiah; the nation was no longer recognized as and entity among the family of nations.  There is still no descendant of David on the throne in Israel.  Just as surely as Israel has reemerged from the boneyard of the nations of history as prophesied by Ezekiel…

Ezekiel 37:1–11 “The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones…and, lo, they were very dry….Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD. …. and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army. Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel….”

…so too will the LORD establish His King, Jesus His Son and the son of David, on the throne of David to rule the world.

Luke 1:30–33 “And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.”

Revelation 20:4 “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.”

After that thousand years Satan and those who chose to follow him will be condemned to eternal punishment, and the eternal throne of God will be established in the new heavens and earth from the New Jerusalem.

Revelation 21:1–5 “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.”

Revelation 22:3 “And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:”

I could get off on a whole other tangent, but will restrain myself.  There is one more thing, however, that stood out to me as I read this name--THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.  It is only in Jesus that we can be declared righteous before God; He is literally our righteousness.

2 Corinthians 5:18–21 “And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ….For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

It is still beyond my understanding how God can love us so much!  I am so grateful for His love and forgiveness.  One of my favorite verses connects with the heart of the Psalmist.

Psalms 17:15 “As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.”

When I see God’s face, He will see me pure and righteous through the blood of His Son.  Finally, I will reflect a true likeness of His image, the image we were created to reflect, the image of our Creator.  I can hardly wait!

(to be continued…)

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