In the Days of the RIGHTEOUS KING Very often, the kind of king a people get determines the direction in which they go. In Jeremiah 23:5-6, God promised Himself to “raise” a ruler over the people, a ruler He described as “a righteous Branch”; a ruler who would “execute judgment and justice.” That good rulers strength and virtues were going to have their origin not in the rulers competence, not in his enviable background, not in his impeccable character, but in the Lord, hence the rulers title: “THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.” 5 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper , and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. 6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS (Jeremiah 23:5-6). People sometimes pride themselves as “king makers,” but if God says here, “I will raise…,” it means that He is a King Maker; the true King Maker. Satan manipulates and raises bad rulers; God also raises rulers, good rulers. A rulers rise and influence, therefore, may be the product of the adoption and endorsement of a metaphysical force, of God or Satan. He may campaign, he may be elected or appointed by the people, yet the controlling powers behind his installation and performance would be beyond mortals. The powers could be divine or demonic. In the case of Judah, God showed that it could be divine. In other words, God is a politician. He chooses candidates. He is directly concerned with, and gets actively involved in, the process of who becomes a ruler, especially of His people. I wish I could tell the name of His party. Note that the possessive pronoun in the title of the God-king is plural and collective: “THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS,” rather than “The Lord his (or my) Righteousness.” The meaning is that that rulers righteousness, his virtues and quality of life, would flow down to everybody and become not just his lifestyle but the culture of the entire population, so that it is possible to speak not only of the good leaders singular righteousness but of “our” righteousness, thanks to the influence of the supervising benevolent spiritual Power behind that ruler. According to verse 6, the regime of such a leader would bring salvation and safety to the whole land: “In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely.” Also, that king shall “reign and prosper” (v.5), suggesting that it is one thing to reign, and a different thing for a reign to prosper both the king and his people. Not every king who reigns prospers. O God, please, raise us Your leaders in our day, in our land, in Jesus name. Amen
Posted on: Wed, 21 Jan 2015 08:05:20 +0000
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