Journal: Central Bible Quarterly
Volume: CENQ 06:4 (Winter 1963)
Article: Jehovah-Tsidkenu - The Lord Our Righteousness
Author: Joel Kettenring

CenQ 6:4 (Winter 1963) p. 1

Jehovah-Tsidkenu - The Lord Our Righteousness

Joel Kettenring

Pillsbury College, Owatonna, Minnesota

“Behold the days ,come saith, the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous .Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS” (Jer. 23:5–6). This prophecy was made at a time in Judah’s history when everything was on the decline. Prior to this prediction, by someone hundred years, Israel had been taken captive by the strength of Assyria, but Judah had learned nothing from this lesson. Judah’s sins were even more grievous than those of the northern kingdom.

Jeremiah’s prophecy began during the reign of the good king Josiah. The fluctuating conditions of the nation were a commentary upon her spiritual condition. But with Josiah came sweeping reforms- which ended with his untimely death. The rapid succession of kings from Josiah to Zedekiah could have written over it only one .comment -”he did evil in the sight of the Lord.” Conditions went from bad to worse. God’s warnings went unheeded; His servants the prophets were mocked and despised until the Lord said: “I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there” (II Kings 23:27).

Jeremiah predicted the captivity of Judah and the subsequent rule of Babylon to whom Judah would be subjected as God’s instrument of judgment. What would become of God’s great promise to Judah; the establishment of David’s throne forever? Jeremiah predicted not only that Israel would return from captivity and be restored to its land, but that Jehovah would raise up to David a “Righteous Branch, “a king who should reign and prosper and do judgment and justice, and who should, be called

CenQ 6:4 (Winter 1963) p. 2

This study will present Jeremiah’s view of (1) Jehovah’s judgment of sin, that sin will bring certain doom; (2) Jehovah’s sorrow for sin, that Jehovah weeps over the sins of the people and the doom which sin brings; and (3) Jehovah’s victory over sin, that the Righteous Branch will restore the nation.

Jehovah’s Judgment Of Sin

Jeremiah sets out immediately to declare the sins of the nation. This impeachment of the nation, recorded in the second chapter, is a graphic picture of the degradation of those who outwardly expressed an allegiance to Jehovah. “Go and cry in the ears of Jerusal...