God Promised a Righteous Branch

August 19, 2012 Background Scripture: Jeremiah 23:1 – 8; 33 Lesson Passage: Jeremiah 23:1 – 6; 33:14 – 18 Any word that follows the phrase “God promised …” comes with great assurance and should be received with great expectancy by those for whom it is intended. God’s promises are absolute. They are established by the very word that God speaks just as heaven and earth were created by God’s word. In fact, Jesus said: until heaven and earth pass, not one jot or tittle of the law (God’s word) will change. That is a statement or definition of absolute. Therefore, it is imperative that we take the topic of our lesson today seriously. Jeremiah prophesied the fall of Judah at the hands of her enemy and he was also an eyewitness to the final deportation of many of the citizens. The failure of leadership had become a stark reality for the nation. The leaders had scattered the people and showed little concern for their welfare. As a result of this, God had dispersed them into many nations. Jeremiah wept over the fall of Jerusalem which earned him the moniker of “the weeping prophet”. But God is faithful to His word and to His covenant. Although the leaders had caused Israel to sin greatly in departing from the covenant, God would still uphold them and eventually return the nation to the land of promise. However, their punishment would last seventy years and then God would judge their enemy and allow many of those that were a part of the dispersion to return to Canaan. In addition to this, God allowed Jeremiah to take a peek through the telescope of time. Jeremiah saw that God would also gather the offspring of those of the northern kingdom who had been dispersed over one hundred thirty five years prior to the fall of Judah in 586 B.C. Jeremiah saw both Israel and Judah being gathered and forming a remnant of God’s chosen people as time comes to a close. This remnant would not suffer at the hands of evil leaders who would cause them to stray from following after God. God would fulfill His promise made to David concerning his descendent. David’s offspring would sit on the throne of Israel throughout eternity. Obviously, this fulfillment did not take place at the end of the seventy years. The fulfillment of the prophecy would be beyond that time and even beyond the period of time that we today know as the Church Age. At the end of time, God would raise up the Messiah from the lineage of King David and he would be their ruler. In the family of David, God established and sustained a tree of righteousness and the Messiah would be a natural branch that grows out of that tree. This Righteous Branch would bring salvation and safety to God’s people. He would be their King. In spite of their present distress, God’s people had much to rejoice about. This punishment would not be forever but only for a season. Then the Lord would restore them, and even more than that, God would fulfill the covenant He made with Abraham and David. Robert C. Hudson August 13, 2012