The Lord Our Righteousness

About an hour or so ago, my computer began calculating correlations between 44 columns of data, which in retrospect might not have been the brightest idea. With any luck, it will finish that before the day ends, but I digress...

Jeremiah 23:5-6 states:

⁵ “The days are coming,” declares the LORD,
   “when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch,
a King who will reign wisely
   and do what is just and right in the land.
⁶ In his days Judah will be saved
   and Israel will live in safety.
This is the name by which he will be called:
   The LORD Our Righteousness. 

We've read similar passages in Isaiah, most notably Isaiah 11:1, and consider what the people of Judah had to be thinking given the events that were occurring. Nebuchadnezzar (I'm going to get tired of typing that name REAL SOON) was about to occupy Jerusalem and send almost everyone into Babylonian exile, so times were bleak. 

To hear a promise of ultimate victory and salvation in the face of  imminent doom might give solace and comfort, but people usually take the short view. We also tend to take words and interpret them by our terms and desires, so it's easy to see how the people of Jesus' time took these words and looked for a worldly explanation. By then, the people of Israel had been under foreign rule for close to 700 years, from Assyrians to Babylonians to Persians to Greeks to Romans, and for a man to claim that he was the fulfillment of  this prophecy would be viewed as the height of arrogance.

I could be wrong, but I think we sometimes slip into similar thinking today. I'm sure we all understand that the ultimate fulfillment of this prophecy will occur when Christ returns, but we all sometimes wish that things might be better on this Earth. We lament when we believe that the world marginalizes Christians or attempts to legitimize abhorant behavior, which is just another way to yearn for a worldly kingdom of God. It doesn't  hurt to wish this or actively work toward a better world, but it will be an uphill battle. I don't want to ruin your day, but nothing in Scripture tells us that this world will get any better until Christ returns.

Our solace lies in the knowledge that our victory won't be on this earth, but in heaven. It will be eternal and completely beyond our ability to imagine. It will surpass all human understanding, and it will be FINAL. The best part is that we'll do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to earn this and will be completely undeserving of it, but we'll receive it just the same. 

Scott