Willmington, Harold

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Liberty UniversityDigitalCommons@LibertyUniversityThe Three-in-One File Theological Studies11-2017Jehovah-TsidkenuHarold WillmingtonLiberty University, hwillmington@liberty.eduFollow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/three_onePart of the Biblical Studies Commons, Christianity Commons, Practical Theology Commons,and the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion CommonsThis Names of God is brought to you for free and open access by the Theological Studies at DigitalCommons@Liberty University. It has been acceptedfor inclusion in The Three-in-One File by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Liberty University. For more information, please contactscholarlycommunication@liberty.edu.Recommended CitationWillmington, Harold, "Jehovah-Tsidkenu" (2017). The Three-in-One File. 12.http://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/three_one/12ARTICLE THIRTY-FIVE: TSIDKENU, THE SEVENTH COMPOUND NAME OF JEHOVAH  There are literally hundreds of names and titles given for Jesus in the biblical record.  Some of the more familiar ones are: Prophet  Savior Priest   Redeemer King   Lamb Shepherd  Prince of Peace, etc. But perhaps the least known is the name He will be called during the thousand-year millennial reign.  The prophet Jeremiah speaks of this: “’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. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell safely; now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS’” (Jer. 23:5, 6). Thus, in the Hebrew language His name will be Tsidkenu, here translated “the Lord our Righteousness.” The entire book of Romans is, in essence, an expansion of Jehovah Tsidkenu. In fact the author, Paul, refers to this concept no less than 40 times! In essence, he declares: • God is righteous. • God demands righteousness. • God provides righteousness. The key thought of righteousness in regard to God is right acts. This is simply to say He always speaks the right things, does the right things at the right time in the right circumstances! Of course this involves not only what He does, but what He is! David, Daniel, Paul and John give testimony concerning this: • David – “Let the rivers clap their hands; let the hills sing for joy together before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity” (Psa. 98:8, 9). • Daniel – “Therefore the Lord has kept ready the calamity and has brought it upon us, for the Lord our God is righteous in all the works that he has done, and we have not obeyed his voice . . . O Lord, according to all your righteous acts, let your anger and your wrath turn away from your city Jerusalem, your holy hill, because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become a byword among all who are around us” (Dan. 9:14, 16).  • Paul – “Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing” (2 Tim. 4:8). • John – “And I heard the angel in charge of the waters say, Just are you, O Holy One, who is and who was, for you brought these judgments. . . And I heard the altar saying, Yes, Lord God the Almighty, true and just are your judgments!” (Rev. 16:5, 7). As has already been seen, the concept of righteousness in relation to Jehovah Tsidkenu refers to RIGHT ACTS! But in the repenting sinner’s case it designates RIGHT CLOTHING! The very first example of this can be seen in regard to God’s act following Adam’s sin. “Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths… And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them” (Gen. 3:7, 21). As this desperate couple would soon learn, no human efforts could hide their spiritual nakedness from God. But the garment of skin from an animal could, at least, until the perfect Lamb of God would clothe all the fallen sons and daughters in His own righteousness!  “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 Cor. 5:21). William Bradbury’s great hymn, The Solid Rock, aptly summarizes this glorious truth: My hope is built on nothing less, Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness; I dare not trust the sweetest frame, But wholly lean on Jesus’ name. Chorus: On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand All other ground is sinking sand, All other ground is sinking sand. When darkness veils His lovely face, I rest on His unchanging grace; In ev’ry high and stormy gale, My anchor holds within the veil. His oath, His covenant, His blood Support me in the whelming flood; When all around my world gives way, He then is all my hope and stay. When He shall come with trumpet sound, O may I then in Him be found, Dressed in His righteousness alone, Faultless to stand before the throne. In light of all this, how sad for one to depend upon his or her attempted righteousness to serve as a passport to heaven.  But how does God view this? “But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; we all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away” (Isa. 64:6). Now, note Isaiah’s glorious conclusion: “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He has clothed me  with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a  bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels” (Isa. 61:10). Finally, during Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount He stresses the supreme importance of making God’s righteousness a top priority in our lives: “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matt. 6:33).                  

Jehovah-Tsidkenu

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Jehovah-Tsidkenu

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