His Name is Life

Sometimes, people remember the prophet Jeremiah as someone with an unpopular message, who has a whole book in the Bible, Lamentations, devoted to how upset he was about life in captivity. However, Jeremiah’s message was not only about gloom, Jeremiah was also a minister of hope. “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; a King shall reign and prosper, and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In His days, Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell safely. Now this is His Name by which He will be called: the Lord our Righteousness,” (Jeremiah 23: 5-6). God promised that He would raise up a righteous Ruler who would come through the royal line of David. This was particularly good news because the people of Judah had been taken into captivity, and it seemed as if the house of David had been cut down like a tree and there was only a stump from the old tree remaining. However, the message for God’s people in Jeremiah’s day still has resonance today. God specialises in bringing dead things back to life. Even though the house of David appeared to be dead, and as far as the people could see this was a correct view, God wanted people to see things from His perspective. When our situations seem hopeless, we may be right, if we are reckoning with our frame of reference. However, if we adopt a heavenly perspective, we will hear the voice of Jesus speaking into our circumstances that He is the Resurrection and the Life (John 11: 25). Thus, God can take a dried up trunk and old twigs, and from these, He will bring forth a green shoot, a Branch. This King will be a Branch of righteousness. He will flourish so that the whole earth will benefit from His glorious reign. Many people today want to escape from their awful daily reality and to live in peace. This King promises to save His people and He offers us lasting security. Who is this Branch?  Jeremiah tells us that His Name is the Lord our Righteousness. The righteousness of Jesus is ours in Him! That means we can claim and experience His resurrection power in our lives (Philippians 3: 10).