The Days Are Coming

Introduction:

Behold:  Look, the days are coming!  An important announcement is to be made.  After the terrible days of Babylonian captivity, Jehovah would raise up  a great King to rule over the land.  Who was this King?

Body:

I.            Righteous Branch of David  (Jeremiah 23:5) “‘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.’ ” NKJV

·       This King would be a descendant of David.  “Branch” – more accurately a sprout or shoot which grows out of the ground.  The prophet Zechariah uses this terminology to describe the Messiah.  (Zechariah 6:12-13) “Then speak to him, saying, Thus says the Lord of hosts, saying: ‘Behold, the Man whose name is the BRANCH!  From His place He shall branch out, And He shall build the temple of the Lord; Yes, He shall build the temple of the Lord.  He shall bear the glory, And shall sit and rule on His throne; So He shall be a priest on His throne, And the counsel of peace shall be between them both.’ ” NKJV

·       The prophet Nathan had told David that his descendant would sit on the throne forever.  (II Samuel 7:12-13) “When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.  He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.” NKJV

·        The prophet Isaiah foretold this about the coming king.  (Isaiah 9:6-7) “For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder.  And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end.  Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever.  The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.” NKJV  Jesus is identified as the descendant of David who fulfilled this prophecy.  (Matthew 1:1, 22-23) “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:  22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea instead of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there.  And being warned by God in a dream, he turned aside into the region of Galilee.  And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, ‘He shall be called a Nazarene.’ ” NKJV

·       This “branch” or “shoot” would be raised up directly by God and be a “righteous” shoot.  The Messiah would be sinless.  (I Peter 2:21-22) “For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps:  ‘Who committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth’;” NKJV  He did not become righteous; He was righteous.  (Isaiah 53:11) “He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied.  By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall hear their iniquities.” NKJV

II.          The Wise King

·       Jeremiah looks forward to the rule of a second David.  (Micah 5:1-2) “Now gather yourself in troops, O daughter of troops; He has laid siege against us; They will strike the judge of Israel with a rod on the cheek.  But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth in Me The One to be Ruler in Israel.  Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting.” NKJV  The Messiah’s reign as King began in the 1^st century as clearly revealed in the New Testament.  (Acts 2:29-33) “Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.  Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh.  He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption.  This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses.  Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear.”  (Revelation 3:21) “To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.” NKJV

·       The King would deal wisely, rule with insight and intelligence.  (Isaiah 11:1-4a) “There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his roots.  The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of Wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.  His delight is in the fear of the Lord, And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, Nor decide by the hearing of His ears; But with righteousness He shall judge the poor, And decide with equity for the meek of the earth;”  Note also Revelation 5:12.  “saying with a loud voice:  ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain To receive power and riches and wisdom, And strength and honor and glory and blessing.’ ” NKJV

·       The Messiah would administer justice and righteousness:  A description of the ideal ruler –the perfect King.  (Jeremiah 9:24) “But let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and knows Me, That I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth.  For in these I delight, says the Lord.” NKJV

 

III.        The Loud Our Righteousness

·       Israel and Judah will be reunited under the rule of the Messiah.  Note the similar language of a contemporary prophet Ezekiel.  (Ezekiel 37:18-24) “And when the children of your people speak to you, saying, ‘Will you not show us what you mean by these?’  say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God:  Surely I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will join them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand.  And the sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes.’  Then say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God:  Surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all; they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again.  They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them.  Then they shall be My people, and I will be their God.  David My servant shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd; they shall also walk in My judgments and observe My statutes, and do them. NKJV  The salvation spoken of in this prophecy is not a physical one, but a spiritual one.  This salvation would be found in the Kingdom of God, the church of Christ.  (II Corinthians 6:16) “And what agreement has the temple of God with idols?  For you are the temple of the living God.  As God has said: ‘I will dwell in them And walk among them.  I will be their God, And they shall be My people.’ ”  (Hebrews 8:7-10) “For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second.  Because finding fault with them, He says: ‘Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah – not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord.  For this is the covenant that  I will make with the house of Israel after those day, says the Lord:  I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” NKJV

·       The name given here to the Messiah describes His very nature; He is righteousness!  (Psalm 111:3 ) “His work is honorable and glorious, And His righteousness endures forever.”  (I Corinthians 1:30) “But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God – and righteousness and sanctification and redemption” – NKJV

Conclusion:

Scripture affirms that one day God will judge the world with righteousness.  Are you truly ready for that day?

Bobby Stafford  May 28, 2017