Pointing to Jesus

Jeremiah 23:5,6–  “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’

Jehovah Tsidkenu is another one of God’s names, and it means the Lord is our Righteousness. It is found in Jeremiah 23:5,6 and also in Jeremiah 3:15,16. Jeremiah was a prophet to the nation of Judah. In these verses, Jeremiah is prophesy the coming of the Messiah, Jesus. We know he is talking about Jesus because of the covenant God makes with David through the prophet Nathan in I Samuel 7:8-17. In this covenant, God tells David that the Messiah would come from David’s line, He would come from the tribe of Judah, and His kingdom would last forever.

Righteous is who Jesus is. It is part of His character and attributes. Righteousness means to do what is right, just and holy. We  can trust God to be righteous at all times. We can trust Him to do what’s right in all situations. There is never a moment when God does not do what is right, just and  holy. Even and especially when we are going through circumstances we don’t understand or don’t seem to us to be just, we can trust that God knows what He is doing. We can trust that He is acting justly and doing what is right.

Deuteronomy 32:4b: “A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is He.” 

Psalm 89:14: “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.” 

Psalms 11:7: “The Lord is righteous, he loves justice.” 

Isaiah 5:16: “The Lord Almighty will be exalted by his justice.” 

If we have accepted God’s gift of salvation and have asked Him to be the Lord of our lives, we can choose to be righteous and live our lives in a way that pleases God and glorifies Him. Because God is righteous and because Jesus died on the cross for our sins, we have the ability,  through the power of the Holy Spirit to live righteous lives. Not perfect lives – only God is perfect, and only He has perfect righteousness, but we can choose righteousness over sin with God’s help. We can’t live righteous lives on our own. The Bible speaks about us living righteous lives.

Matthew 6:33 – But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Romans 6:13- Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.

I Peter 2:24-  He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

There are many more verses on this subject as well. Let’s commit in this new year that we will, with God’s help and through the power of the  Holy Spirit, and because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, live righteous lives. Let’s continue to trust that God is righteous and just in everything that He does because He is our Jehovah Tsidkenu.

Many blessings,

Desiree