God, Covenant Keeper

“In His days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely. And this is His name by which He shall be called, JEHOVAH, OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.” (Jeremiah 23:6)

Jeremiah prophesies of the days of the reign of Christ. In those days Judah and Israel were separated which is why he prophesies of them separately. But in the days of the reign of Christ, they will be together. They will be delivered from their sin and the Lord will be their refuge and salvation eternally. (Isaiah 45:17; Hosea 1:7) They have the promise in Jesus. “And she shall bear a son, and you shall call His name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21) Paul who yearned for the salvation of the Jews also wrote, “For I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, lest you should be wise within yourselves; that blindness in part has happened to Israel, until the fullness of the nations has comes in. And so all Israel shall be saved; as it is written, "There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob. For this is My covenant with them, when I have taken away their sins." (Romans 11:25-27)

For thousands of years the Jews had this promise in their covenant with the Lord. And although they did not see it in their time, and it still is to come, it will come. The Lord is the Covenant Keeper. This is a promise God made to them. “...then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and also My covenant with Isaac, and also My covenant with Abraham I will remember. And I will remember the land.” (Leviticus 26:42) Ethan the Ezrahite prophesies in the psalms, “I will not break My covenant, nor change the thing that has gone out of My lips.” (Psalms 89:34)

Jeremiah prophesied, “...He shall be called, JEHOVAH, OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS” because He hadn’t come yet. But now we can say, He is JEHOVAH, OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.” “But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who of God is made to us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption; so that, according as it is written, "He who glories, let him glory in the Lord." (1Corinthians 1:30-31) We are clothed by faith in His righteousness when we believe on Him and receive Him as our Savior and Lord. “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, "The just shall live by faith." (Romans 1:17) And just like Abraham who was made righteous because of faith. We also because we believe God, receive righteousness by faith. “For the promise that he should be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith.” (Romans 4:13) Paul explains it in detail in chapter 3 of Romans. “But now a righteousness of God has been revealed apart from Law, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets; even the righteousness of God through the faith of Jesus Christ, toward all and upon all those who believe. For there is no difference, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus; whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness through the passing by of the sins that had taken place before, in the forbearance of God; for the display of His righteousness at this time, for Him to be just and, forgiving the one being of the faith of Jesus.” (Romans 3:21-26) Jesus is our deliverer and salvation. And Jesus is the deliverer and salvation of Israel.

This happened at the Cross when Jesus took our sin, and in exchange clothed us in His righteousness. Nothing we could give or earn could make us righteous before God, only His shed blood sacrificed as the Lamb of God, taking our sin and transgression on Himself and suffering death for us, paid the debt for sin and cleansed us from all guilt. “Above, when He said, "Sacrifice and offering, and burnt offerings and offering for sin You did not desire, neither did You have pleasure in them" (which are offered according to the Law), then He said, "Lo, I come to do Your will, O God." He takes away the first so that He may establish the second. By this will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (Hebrews 10:8-10) What love! What mercy!

In our Scripture of study, we see God’s perfect plan of salvation for His people of the Old Testament and His children bought by the Blood of the Lamb through Jesus. It’s God keeping His promises to Abraham and to mankind. (Genesis 3:15)