“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 23:6)
Jeremiah was prophesying about Jesus. In the preceding Scriptures He prophesies about the Righteous Branch raised from King David. This Righteous Branch will reign as king and “…shall execute judgment and justice in the earth…” (Jeremiah 23:5) This refers to the promise God made David. Nathan the prophet had a vision about David’s son, Solomon and made a covenant with David. “And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established forever. According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David. (2 Samuel 7:16-17) No earthly kingdom is forever. Nathan was prophesying about a divine kingdom, an eternal kingdom. When the angel spoke to Mary and told her she would have a baby boy born of God, one of the things he said to her was, “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:” (Luke 1:32) Although Jesus did not have the seed of a man, Mary and His stepfather Joseph were descendants of David.
Let’s start understanding what God is saying beginning with Jeremiah 23:6. At the time Israel was divided into two kingdoms. Judah was to the south and bordered just north of Jericho. It included Jerusalem. Israel was to the north of Judah. It’s southern border just south of Ai and Bethel. The kingdoms of Judah and Israel remained separate states for over 200 years. So, the prospect of Judah and Israel uniting was unthinkable at the time. But Jeremiah saw one united kingdom in the day of “The Lord Our Righteousness.” Paul wrote in Romans concerning the salvation of Israel: “And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:” (Romans 11:26)
And Jesus has become our righteousness. “But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:” (1Corinthians 1:30) Paul counted all his achievements dung and worthless in light of the righteousness of Christ. “And be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:” (Philippians 3:9) In other words, we have no righteousness on our own. But Jesus and His redemptive work has given us His righteousness. “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.” (2Corinthians 5:21) We stand before the Almighty God in the righteousness of Jesus. This is why when we pray, we come in the Name of Jesus. Because it’s all due to Jesus, His righteousness.
“For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. For finding fault with them, He (God) saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put My laws into their mind and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:” (Hebrews 8:7-10) It is obvious this has not happened yet. The old covenant had faults. It couldn’t save. All it's rules and regulations were in place to show them and us that we could not on our own come up to God’s standard. No one could keep the Law. Sacrifices of innocent animals were made for sin to show the payment for sin, death. “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23) We needed a Savior. Jesus, the Son of God, our Righteousness, was the sinless, innocent sacrifice for the sin of the whole world. He paid the price of our sin once and for all. No other sacrifice is needed. He is the Savior, the Redeemer. He bought us with His blood. When we receive His gift of salvation, we belong to Him. “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore, glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.” (1Corinthians 6:19-20)
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