The LORD Our Righteousness

Jeremiah 33:1-18 

1 Moreover the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah a second time, while he was still shut up in the court of the prison, saying, 2 "Thus says the LORD who made it, the LORD who formed it to establish it (the LORD is His name): 3 'Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.'

4 "For thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city and the houses of the kings of Judah, which have been pulled down to fortify against the siege mounds and the sword: 5 'They come to fight with the Chaldeans, but only to fill their places with the dead bodies of men whom I will slay in My anger and My fury, all for whose wickedness I have hidden My face from this city. 6 Behold, I will bring it health and healing; I will heal them and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth. 7 And I will cause the captives of Judah and the captives of Israel to return, and will rebuild those places as at the first. 8 I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned and by which they have transgressed against Me. 9 Then it shall be to Me a name of joy, a praise, and an honor before all nations of the earth, who shall hear all the good that I do to them; they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and all the prosperity that I provide for it.'

10 "Thus says the LORD: 'Again there shall be heard in this place—of which you say, "It is desolate, without man and without beast"—in the cities of Judah, in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man and without inhabitant and without beast, 11 the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who will say:

"Praise the LORD of hosts,
For the LORD is good,
For His mercy endures forever"—

and of those who will bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the LORD. For I will cause the captives of the land to return as at the first,' says the LORD.

12 "Thus says the LORD of hosts: In this place which is desolate, without man and without beast, and in all its cities, there shall again be a dwelling place of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down. 13 In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the lowland, in the cities of the South, in the land of Benjamin, in the places around Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, the flocks shall again pass under the hands of him who counts them,' says the LORD.

14 'Behold, the days are coming,' says the LORD, 'that I will perform that good thing which I have promised to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah:

15 'In those days and at that time
I will cause to grow up to David
A Branch of righteousness;
He shall execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.
16 In those days Judah will be saved,
And Jerusalem will dwell safely.
And this is the name by which she will be called:

THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.'

17 "For thus says the LORD: 'David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel; 18 nor shall the priests, the Levites, lack a man to offer burnt offerings before Me, to kindle grain offerings, and to sacrifice continually.'"

Omnipotent work of the restoration of God’s people is the theme here.  The LORD our righteousness is the one doing this work to ransom His people of His hand’s making from their captivity and bondage to sin.  This is possible because there is absolutely nothing too difficult for Him to do as the Creator and Sustainer (Colossians 1:17) of all things.  This almighty God commanded Jeremiah to call out to Him for that deliverance in response to his declared faith in Jeremiah 32:17 where the prophet declared this truth of God’s ability to Him as an assent to a statement of fact and no mere wish of human hope.  The working of God is far greater than he or we can even begin to imagine in His magnificent answers in seemingly impossible ways.  The people had given up even their houses as a defense against the siege mounds of their attackers seemingly in vain as they were defeated, yet their hope was in God’s promise to deliver and return them and rebuild their city that they might again worship Him as before they backslid into sin.  He promise the impossible to bring healing and reveal to them the abundance of peace with God and give understanding of His truth to live by once more, just as He had promised to write His law in their hearts and dwell in them (Jeremiah 31:33, Hebrews 10:16-17) in the days to come which we see fulfilled ultimately in Christ and the Helper He left when He ascended into heaven once more (John 14:16-17, 26, Acts 1:4-5).  He promised not only to pardon their sin and release them from its sentence of death, but also to do good to them by His unmerited grace of goodness by His love so that they could honor and praise Him as a witness to all around them.  Such is the gospel call and promises for all God’s people in Christ which are yes and amen even now.  Such is our witness of His grace and redemption to the end of the earth as well that many may glorify and honor His name above all others (Philippians 2:9-11).   He is the branch of righteousness referred to here to execute His divine justice and His righteousness in all the earth to deliver His people in bondage to sin.  His name is YHWH Tsidkenu, the LORD who is our righteousness, for we have none of our own unless imputed by Christ the LORD to us who are found in Union with Him (Colossians 3:3, 1 Corinthians 1:30).  The King and High Priest promised through the lineage of David is Jesus the Christ who is the Branch of God’s righteousness of promise in whom we stand!  This LORD is our only righteousness; we neither have nor can earn our own.  We stand therefore in Christ alone by faith alone according to His word alone for God’s glory alone!  Call to Him and He will show you these great and mighty things wrought by His hand on the cross which we cannot know apart from Him revealing them to us (Matthew 11:27, Luke 24:31-32).