“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.
The King is Here
“‘The days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.’”
Old Testament prophets tended to get in trouble. Not because they were bad people, but because they often spoke uncomfortable truths to people in power. Just look at the verse above. On the surface, it seems like a nice, simple promise—one day a righteous descendant of David will come and rule with wisdom and justice. Great message, right? Well, here’s the problem for Jeremiah:
The current king is a descendant of King David. Jeremiah doesn’t say there’s a righteous king in the present, but one coming in the future. In making this prophecy about the future ruler, he’s also critiquing the current one.
Jeremiah had a lot to say about the kings of his day. He spoke about their failure to protect the innocent, how they ignored oppression, and how they allowed violence against cultural outsiders. In other words, they were poor representatives of God’s love, kindness, and forgiveness.
Of course, it wasn’t just the kings of Jeremiah’s time who had issues. The Old Testament is full of kings making harmful choices that impacted their kingdom. Even the best of the best, King David, was deeply flawed. But Jeremiah still had hope he wanted to share with his people.
Jeremiah knew that, despite a long line of troubled, flawed, and corrupt kings, God would one day bring a new kind of king.
This king would be without the flaws and failures that plagued previous generations. This king would show God’s love, kindness, and forgiveness. He would create a kingdom where everyone could be right with God and live out His righteous ways.
Jeremiah might not have known the name of this king, but we do. When Jesus came to earth, He announced that God’s kingdom had come. Not a kingdom based on strength, territory, or wealth, but a kingdom of kindness, service, and generosity. The kind of kingdom where everyone is invited.
Jeremiah knew flawed kings, but we know the perfect, sinless King. It is King Jesus, who calls us to represent His kingdom through daily decisions of kindness, service, and generosity.
Note after sharing the devotional: coming off the most recent presidential election, it's very easy to relate our country's collective joy in anticipation of Inauguration Day to today's verse (at least from a spiritual perspective). Of course, for others, the thought of even making any kind of correlation between the two would be considered blasphemous. But I would argue this much: both scenarios give cause for hope. However, one scenario gives cause for a far greater hope than the other, and that of course is Jesus' coming reign as King (His second arrival is still to be determined).
While reflecting through this devotional, I was thinking about our recent election not in comparison with Jesus' arrival, but rather with the arrival of some of the few good kings that the southern kingdom of Judah experienced before its exile to Babylon. There are some of you reading this who will disagree with the point I will attempt to make, and that's ok. My aim must first be to please God, and not you (and not even myself); and secondly, my aim is to find as much as possible insights and angles that might hopefully open someone's heart to hear about Jesus and really want to know Him more.
The thought that came to me came as I was reflecting on how Israel (and Judah)'s history is littered with bad, sinful, God-hating kings, and even the "good" ones were still deeply flawed sinners. I think about the ascents of king Hezekiah and king Josiah, just to name a couple, and how they followed very evil kings. As the Bible notes, both Hezekiah (2 Kings 18:5) and Josiah (2 Kings 22:2; 2 Chronicles 34:2) did what was right in God's eyes. Their nation flourished during their reigns. But in both cases, their predecessors and their successors were evil. [I want to be careful not to pronounce our nation's 48th president as evil, and in fact I pray against in the name of Jesus!] It's why, while I believe we should enjoy and be very thankful for our next presidency, we should not take for granted our need for the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, God appoints all leaders as the Bible says (Daniel 2:21), but one "good" president will not fix what is fundamentally broken, and that is human nature; that is, the nature of our hearts. After all, it is written:
“The heart is deceitful above all things,And desperately wicked;Who can know it?
Getting back to the devotional and to the point, whether it's today or back in Jeremiah's day, both he and I were seeing many bad rulers, and further to the point, our collective need for God to fix our hearts on a fundamental level. How He does that is by sending King Jesus - yes, a King - to walk among us, love us, and commit the ultimate sacrifice by dying on a cross for us as payment for our grievous sins. The bad news is that everyone's hearts are truly that wicked. The good news is that Jesus gives us an opportunity to avoid the just sentence for the fruits of our wicked hearts, and that is to receive Him as our King, Lord, and Savior and to let Him dictate our lives. Only by God's grace do I get to say that is true of me.
Ultimately, Jesus's Kingship is the only reign that will bring ultimate peace, joy, and prosperity. No other king, queen, president, prime minster, or other type of leader can come close to what Jesus can (and will) do. And ultimately, the fate of the United States of America (as well as that of every other country) hinges on whether we truly devote ourselves to the Lord Jesus Christ as a nation.
Prayer: God, thank You for sending Jesus, the perfect representation of Your love, kindness, and forgiveness. Help my life be full of worship and gratitude for Jesus's coming and His sacrifice. Because of Jesus, I can be right with You and live out Your righteous ways. Thank you! In Jesus' name, Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment