The LORD is our Righteousness
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Introduction
Introduction
The Kingdom of Judah, the Southern Kingdom, was tottering near collapse. Nearly one hundred years after the ten northern tribes of Isreal had been taken into captivity, Judah now stood in the same predicament, because they, too, had been disobedient. Apparently, Judah, had learned little from watching the spiritual and physical collapse of the Northern Kingdom. It is a sad fact that few of us seem to take advantage of the lessons that history offers us.
Jeremiah was God’s spokesman during this time.
His ministry began during the reign of Josiah, one of the greatest kings in OT history. Israel’s history had always been marked by spiritual highs and lows, and frequently the spiritual, moral, and material productivity of these periods were directly related to the spiritual qualities of the king.
s been marked by spiritual highs and lows, and frequently the spiritual, moral, and material productivity of these periods were directly related to the spiritual qualities of the king.
Josiah followed two wicked and cruel kings, Manasseh and Amon, both of these men had led Israel into deep spiritual and moral decline.
Remember reading the history of these things and at the end it would say one of two things
He did what was right in the sight of the Lord
He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord
Moreover, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides the sin that he made Judah to sin so that they did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.
2 Kings 21.
And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as Manasseh his father had done. He walked in all the way in which his father walked and served the idols that his father served and worshiped them. He abandoned the Lord, the God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the Lord. And the servants of Amon conspired against him and put the king to death in his house.
begins telling us about Josiah
And Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. And Shaphan the secretary came to the king, and reported to the king, “Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house and have delivered it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the Lord.” Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the king.
When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes. And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the king’s servant, saying, “Go, inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.”
2 Kings 22.
This lead to great reforms in the time of Josiah but unfortunately judgement was still coming
Before him there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him.
Still the Lord did not turn from the burning of his great wrath, by which his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked him. And the Lord said, “I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and I will cast off this city that I have chosen, Jerusalem, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there.”
and the great revival and reforms ended shortly after Josiah’s death
and the great revival and reforms ended shortly after Josiah’s death
Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done.
2 Kings 23.
A horrible situation and yet reading the OT is much like reading today’s headlines, there is constant moral and spiritual decline in our country
Oh how we need a revival in our day!!!
God’s Prophetic Spokesman
God’s Prophetic Spokesman
In the midst of all of this spiritual decay Jeremiah was sent to proclaim the Word of the Lord.
Think about the spiritual context and the historical setting.
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon had become a nemesis to Judah.
King Zedekiah sent two priest to Jeremiah with the request that he inquire of the Lord on their behalf
“Inquire of the Lord for us, for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is making war against us. Perhaps the Lord will deal with us according to all his wonderful deeds and will make him withdraw from us.”
Turn to and read 3-7
But check this out, in chapter 22 there is an offer of hope to the king
22:1-4
But again the warning v.5
But Zedekiah ignored the word of the prophet
So the question remains, if God’s judgement is coming , how do we understand God’s promises? Had God not promised to establish the throne of David forever?
Would captivity mean the end of the Davidic King?
But we must remember that even in the midst of words of judgement the Lord gives hope for redemption and restoration.
The Lord had a word that was even better than a word of being restored from captivity or escaping captivity.
God would raise up from the line of David a righteous branch, a king who would reign and bring judgment and justice to the earth. He would be called Jehovah our Righteousness, Jehovah Tsidkanu.
God’s Promise revealed in a Name
God’s Promise revealed in a Name
Jeremiah begins 23 with an indictment against the shepherds who have destroyed and scattered the flock of Israel. Then the Lord promises to gather his flock, to care for them, and to provide good shepherds for His people.
Then we get to v.5-6
In these verses is eternal hope, there is the promise of redemption and restoration through the work of the LORD.
Thinking about Righteousness
Thinking about Righteousness
The root of this name is
tsedek: righteous, just
I will get my knowledge from afar
and ascribe righteousness to my Maker.
Your righteousness, O God,
reaches the high heavens.
You who have done great things,
O God, who is like you?
Steadfast love and faithfulness meet;
righteousness and peace kiss each other.
Faithfulness springs up from the ground,
and righteousness looks down from the sky.
Yes, the Lord will give what is good,
and our land will yield its increase.
Righteousness will go before him
and make his footsteps a way.
-14
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;
steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.
But the Lord sits enthroned forever;
he has established his throne for justice,
and he judges the world with righteousness;
he judges the peoples with uprightness.
Your righteousness is righteous forever,
and your law is true.
The LORD is righteous, He rules in Righteousness, He judges in Righteousness, He requires righteousness.
The LORD’s Kingdom is a Righteous Kingdom
The Lord is exalted, for he dwells on high;
he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness,
Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
And we know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom
Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
1 Cor.
Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
Let’s go back to the context of , the problem is that Israel was unrighteous and they could not be righteous on their own
And just like Israel we are unrighteous, we have no righteousness of our own
But the good news of the Bible is that
The LORD promised a Ruler, He promised a Savior for His people who would not only be Righteous but would be our Righteousness.
Jesus is Jehovah Tsidkanu
Jesus is Jehovah Tsidkanu
The Bible tells us that all our righteousness is filthy
We have all become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.
We all fade like a leaf,
and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
The best that we can do is dung (skubala is fuse, garbage, manure, dung)
Phil.
For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh— though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.