Mensa Otabil - Jehovah Tsidkenu
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We’re still looking at the names of God, and we’ve examined a few of them. Today, we look at another name that is especially important in reference to our salvation: Jehovah Tzidkenu. This is found in Jeremiah chapter 23, verse 6. «In his days, Judah shall be saved, and Israel will dwell safely; now this is his name by which he will be called: The Lord Our Righteousness.»
This passage from Jeremiah 23 is part of a messianic prophecy. When we refer to a messianic prophecy, we mean a prophecy related to the coming Messiah. It speaks of a future Messiah who is going to come, and in earlier verses, that Messiah is called the righteous branch of David, which obviously refers to Jesus Christ. The prophecy further states that this Messiah who is coming will have a name, and his name will be Jehovah Tzidkenu, the Lord Our Righteousness. This introduces the person we call the Lord Our Righteousness, which is later fulfilled by Jesus Christ. Under the law, people hoped to become righteous by observing all the requirements of the law.
If the law says, «Don’t do this,» they wouldn’t do that, and if they were able to keep all of the law, then they became righteous according to the law. However, people couldn’t obey the law, and so righteousness was a very distant wish for the people. But this prophecy indicated that the Lord will be our righteousness, meaning that instead of us trying to be righteous on our own, God is going to become our source of righteousness. Righteousness will not come from ourselves but from the Lord.
So, what does Jehovah Tzidkenu mean? There are three things I want to share with you. First, it means that the Lord is righteous; that is His nature. Everything He does is right; everything He does is just. There is no shadow of wrong in God; He is right at all times. That is God’s nature, and any time we’re dealing with God, we must keep in mind that we are dealing with a just God, who is right and who does right by His people. So that’s the first thing: The Lord is righteous.
Secondly, Jehovah Tzidkenu also means that the Lord determines what is righteous. Not only is He righteous, but He tells us what is righteous. He informs us whether this is right or this is wrong. Many times, people think that they determine what is right for themselves. Our world has reached a point where people simply choose what is right. They will assert that we live in an era of relativity; everything is relative. It’s right for you, but not for me; it’s wrong for you, but not for me; I choose my own way. But that’s not what Jehovah Tzidkenu teaches us.
Jehovah Tzidkenu states that the Lord, not only is He righteous, but He determines what is righteous. He clearly tells us what we are doing is right or wrong. The third thing to learn about Jehovah Tzidkenu is that the Lord makes us righteous. He is righteous, He determines what is righteous, and He makes us righteous. This is the crux of this prophecy in Christ Jesus: God made us righteous. God was in Christ reconciling us to Himself. Christ became sin for us so that we would become the righteousness of God in Him.
So in the prophecy of Jehovah Tzidkenu, or the Lord revealing Himself as our righteousness, we do not become righteous by our own effort; we become righteous by believing in what Christ Jesus has done for us. That is something we must always remember: our right standing with God does not come from us; it comes from God Himself. He is the Lord Our Righteousness.
Let us pray. Say with me, «Heavenly Father, You are righteous in all Your ways. Thank You for bringing me into a right relationship with You. In Jesus' name, Amen.» Well, I’ll catch you again tomorrow as we look at another name of God. I’m Pastor Mensa Otabil. Shalom, peace, and life to you.