The Twelfth Day of Advent, 2016

Thursday, December 8, 2016

Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I shall raise up for David a righteous Branch; and He will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah will be saved and Israel will dwell securely; and this is His name by which He will be called, The Lord our Righteousness.  Jeremiah 23:5-6  

I have been intrigued recently by several Scriptures that reveal some aspect of the character of God through His very name. Often, they also teach me about my position with Him – just by telling me what His name is! This is one of those.

The term here, The Lord our Righteousness in the Hebrew is Jehovah-tsidkenu. It appears in several places in the Old Testament – which is wonderful since it shows that God has always been my righteousness, even before I knew it. There is nothing I can do to become righteous, and I don’t need to try because He is my righteousness! Jesus said, Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied (Matthew 5:6).

In Jeremiah we are promised that we will not only be satisfied in our search for righteousness, for rightness with God, but that He will become our righteousness, our rightness! Incredible! Satisfied and filled with God’s righteousness!

I can almost hear God shouting out to us, Merry Christmas! I have got the best Christmas present ever just for you – my righteousness!

Father, Jehovah-tsidkenu, how can I ever thank you for being my own righteousness. Because of this, I do not need to be afraid to approach you this Christmas or ever! Amen

And Then It Was Christmas: A Journey Toward Christmas
prepared for Homosassa United Methodist Church, 2006,
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Coordinator.