Jeremiah 23:1-8
Intro
: God Revealed continued.
Week 1 Explanation of Names Adoni and Elohim.
Week 2 – Jehovah Rapha
Today – Jehovah
Tsidkenu
(sid-k-nu)
Jehovah
Tsidkenu
is used twice in the Old Testament. The first reference is 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. –
Jehovah means Lord or The Existing One.
Tsidkenu
comes from the Hebrew word
tsedek
, meaning straight or righteous (uprightness)
Transition: Before I look into the verses and context, I want to explain a couple of things about righteousness: It’s
Significance
and its
Necessity
.
There are three important elements tied to righteousness that I want to explain. The first two Virtue & Morality fall into the category of significance, and the last, Justice is tied to the necessity.
founded on the fundamental principles of right conduct rather than on legalities, enactment, or custom:
Questions
: Does our morality count? Is it important? Yes! But not toward salvation.
“But we are all as an unclean thing, and all
our
righteous nesses
are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.”
Justice
–
the moral principle determining just conduct.
conformity to this principle, as manifested in conduct; just conduct, dealing, or treatment.
the administering of deserved punishment or reward.
Not only is God a loving, forgiving and gracious God but He is also Holy. Because He is Holy, holiness demands justice.
George Stiekes –
‘The holiness of God is mentioned more times in Scripture than any other of His attributes. This attribute is not shared inherently by man. We are created in His image and we can experience some of His attributes such as love, mercy and grace. But holiness is what separates God from all other beings. God alone is
holy, holy, holy’
(
Isaiah 6:3
;
Revelation 4:8
).
Application:
We have all seen massive groups of people demanding such things as abortion rights, gay marriage rights, transgender rights and so much other wickedness in total rebellion against their own Creator.
Without realizing it, they are in a self-destruct mode demanding that God judge them. It ought to grieve every believer and cause us to pray that God would open their eyes that they might recognize their foolish wickedness and turn to God.
It is the justice of God that demands that all sin must be punished.
The righteousness and justice of God are linked together in
Psalm 45:7
–
Thou lovest righteousness and hatest wickedness
.
God’s holiness is foundational to all of His other attributes
.
His throne is holy (
Psalm 47:8
).
Justice and judgment are the habitation of Thy throne
(
Psalm 89:14
).
Isaiah 6
:
‘woe is me for I am undone…’
Transition:
So let’s look at the text now… Jeremiah 23:1-8
What we find in the text is this:
Transition:
Suddenly and
prophetically
, Jerimiah moves into
verse 5-6,
“Behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell safely; Now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
(NKJ)
This promised branch of David / Jessie is Jesus himself…
This branch was, according to Hebrews 12:24,to become
‘Jesus the mediator of the new covenant
,”
Hebrews 12:24
Revelation 22:16,
“I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.”
Salvation is the reward of righteousness!
Romans 3:23
Romans 6:23
It is vital to know God as Jehovah
Tsidkenu
because we can never be righteous through our own efforts. Isaiah 64:6 tells us how righteous we can become without Jehovah
Tsidkenu
:
Isaiah 64:6
‘But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousness’s (
morality, virtue, justice
) are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away’
. (NKJ)
In other words, we can only be made righteous because Jehovah
Tsidkenu
has made the way for us through the blood of Jesus! Now as New Testament believers, we are “the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Conclusion
: Isaiah 1:18
“Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the LORD, “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool’.
(NKJ)
Psalm 103:12,
‘
As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us’.
(NKJ)
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