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Chapter 23:5-8 (ESV) - “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.’
“Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when they shall no longer say, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ but ‘As the LORD lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.’ Then they shall dwell in their own land.”
Question to consider: What does the LORD mean by raising up for David a righteous Branch?
The last chapter ended with the description of the end of the Davidic line that ran through Manasseh as king Jehoiachin was carted off to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar, never to see his offspring rule in Judah. As a counterpoint to David’s wicked branch, Manasseh, Jeremiah received word from the LORD that He would raise up a righteous Branch in the coming days.
Hopefully, you recognize that this righteous Branch is Jesus. The execution of justice in the land was of course His payment for the sins of the world on the cross. Paul said of God sending Christ, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21) Frequently, I write about justice being satisfied with two measures: judgment and mercy. Christ received the judgment we all deserved so that we could instead be justified before God by His mercy.
The idea of a righteous branch, however, implies offspring, for a branch was designed by God to produce fruit and leaves and other branches. Branches that did not do these things were pruned so that they did not continue to receive nutrients from the tree (in this case, the tree was David). Manasseh was a bad branch who produced wicked fruit and was thus cut off. You may ask yourself how Jesus could be the righteous Branch if he had no wife to produce offspring. The offspring of Christ, however, are all those who are baptized in His name.
When we come to Christ, we become His brothers and sisters. Thus, Christ was the seed of Abraham who made him a father of many nations. The LORD’s promise to Abraham was, “I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.” (Genesis 17:6-7) The everlasting covenant is what Christ established at the Last Supper and ratified on the cross. Jeremiah will speak more about this covenant in the coming chapters.
The days were coming in which the LORD’s judgment against Judah for the wicked branch, Manasseh, would be satisfied, and He would call His remnant back from the nations to reestablish the holy city and temple. I mentioned the near-term fulfillment during the reign of Zerubbabel, but the ultimate fulfillment was in the establishment of the church. Rather than being limited to a patch of land in the Middle East, the land of the New Covenant and Christ’s rule is established throughout the earth. Even though it may seem like we live in a “post-Christian” culture, Christ still reigns and still gathers citizens for His kingdom while we wait for His return to put an end to sin and death.
Dear heavenly Father, thank You for giving Judah hope for the coming of the righteous Branch in the midst of Your judgment of the wicked branch. May the truth of His coming two thousand years ago continue to bring us assurance of His return so that we may dwell with You in peace forever. Amen.