Yahweh Tsidkenu
Jeremiah had one of the most difficult ministries: Warning a stubborn Israel that judgement was coming in the form of the Babylonians. He was in many ways like Winston Churchill warning about the trouble brewing in Germany and nobody listened. While Jeremiah never got to lead the nation like Sir Winston did, he had an even greater privilege: To have a vision of the coming Messiah and the New Covenant that he would bring.This hope is beautifully presented in Jeremiah 31-33. He talks of a covenant written on hearts instead of stone, he buys land on the eve of an invasion and looks forward to the hope of the Messiah.
The picture Jeremiah has is of a "Righteous Branch" sprouting from David's line.
This is a clear picture of Jesus who "came to do what is just and right in the land."
And then He saved us, and we are the people who can be called by the name "Yahweh Tsidkenu".
("Tsidaka" is the Hebrew word for righteousness - the "oe"/"u" sound on the end is the possessive pronoun "of us")
That's literally what Jesus did for us.
We could not be righteous - so Jesus came to be our righteousness.
He had no sin of His own to pay for, so He could die for our sins.
In our third dev in this series we looked at the God who is holy and holy-making.
This theme is repeated in this beautiful title:
Yahweh Tsidkenu - God is our Righteousness.
Some 580 years before Christ, the prophet Jeremiah saw God's Plan which revealed God's Nature.
And it gave Him hope!
| "In those days and at that time I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David's line; He will do what is just and right in the land. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. This is the name by which it will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness." (Jeremiah33:15-16) |
