Jeremiah, the prophet, found himself in the middle of a world that was consumed by corruption and wickedness. Jeremiah watched as his nation was conquered and carried away into a strange land as punishment for their wickedness. Still the leadership didn’t learn. They remained wicked, corrupt and godless he was even arrested and held in prison as a corrupt rulers attempted to silence the prophet of God.
It was in these terrible circumstances that God gave Jeremiah these messages and revealed God’s chosen leader “THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS”
Righteous Leadership
Judah had a leadership problem – Jer 23:1-4
“Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the Lord.” Jeremiah 23:1
These pastors are the leaders of Judah (one of the tribes of Israel), the guiding influences that are so inherently trusted. Judah’s trust was misplaced in these men. They had destroyed and driven away the flock and God promised to punish them for these actions.
God promised them a Leader (Jehovah Tsidkenu) – Jer 23:5-8
Under the leadership of “THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS” Israel would remember the return from captivity like they had the Exodus from Egypt. They would be regathered from the scattering that the unfaithful leaders had caused. Once they were regathered they would know true, righteous leadership.
Who is this Leader? The New Testament gives us greater insight into the identity of this Leader.
Jesus is our righteousness:
“But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:” 1 Corinthians 1:30
Jesus is righteousness to the believer.
“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” 2 Corinthians 5:21
Jesus became sin for us “that we might be made the righteousness of God in him”. What a beautiful thought! Our place of rightness with God isn’t through our merit, it’s through the person of Jesus Christ.
We aren’t promised wise or righteous leadership in this life. In fact the example of scripture and all of history is that you can count on leadership to be unrighteous, unfair and self serving.
This is why an understanding of the leadership of Jesus is so comforting. He is always righteous and is the way for us to be made righteous.
Pray with Jesus’ Righteous Leadership in Mind
As we pray, we may be praying for the infant struggling with a major health problem and think, “That’s not right.” We my be petitioning the throne of grace for a missionary imprisoned for serving God and think, “God, wouldn’t he be able to serve you better if he were free?” We may mourn with the child who survived when her parents were killed in a drive-by-shooting while her sister clings to life in the hospital and cry out, “Father, what about this is just?”
But in this honesty, mourning, and pleading don’t lose sight of the fact that Jesus is the King. He will reign and set everything right.
Isaiah described the world that Jesus will reign in as king in a couple different passages. Take a few minutes to read Isaiah 11:1-10 and Isaiah 65:17-25 (a few verses will be selected for summary).
“4 But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, And reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: And he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, And with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. 5 And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, And faithfulness the girdle of his reins. 6 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, And the leopard shall lie down with the kid; And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little child shall lead them.” Isaiah 11:4–6 (emphasis mine)
What a joy to see the justice that Jesus will bring as King. He will bring perfect righteousness to the government of men through His Millenial reign, and then into eternity. The results of this everlasting righteous leadership are seen in Isaiah 65.
“17 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: And the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. 18 But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: For, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. 19 And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: And the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying.” Isaiah 65:17–19
Later in this passage it describes what prayer will be like:
“And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; And while they are yet speaking, I will hear.” Isaiah 65:24
Our perfectly righteous King will know our requests and answer them before we even have a chance to pray about them. Fellowship with God will be perfected.
Studying and Application:
- Think through the injustice you see in the world. How does this prompt you to pray?
- Tell God about the things you see that aren’t “right”, trust them to His righteous care.
- How does 1 Timothy 2:1–2 emphasize praying for our leaders?
- Make a list of your local, state, and federal government officials and purpose to pray for them at least once a week. Try to meet some of your local or state leaders to ask for prayer requests.
- Review your prayer list. Take a minute to add any new requests now.
