After not painting for a month, I opened my Bible, hoping to hear from God and be inspired. The first scripture that I read was Isaiah 11:1,
“There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. ” (written between 740 and 701 BC). Then, I carelessly flipped through my Bible and I was drawn to Jeremiah 23:5-6, “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… And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’ (written between 626 and 587 BC)
Two similar passages by two prophets. I meditated on it and decided to paint it. The title is Hebrew translation for ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’ The Lord is our righteousness. Not the good works we do, charitable donations we make, religious rituals, fasting, or keeping special days. God says that the Lord is our righteousness. Who is this Lord? This Lord is a shoot from the stump of Jesse (King David’s father). This Lord is a branch of David. David is the most important king of Isreal, who ruled over ancient Isreal from 1010 B.C. to 970 B.C. Even though Isreal would be captured by the Assyrians and Babylonians around 500 BC, God promised to raise the Messiah from the leniage of King David. The Messiah wouldn’t come like a lion but as a small shoot from a dead tree. This Messiah will be our Lord. Lord means master, king. This King will rule righteously. He Himself will be our righteousness. Jesus was born in the lineage of David, 1000 years after King David’s reign. In Him, we become righteous. We receive His righteousness through faith. Grace is poured out through the Messiah crucified on the cross, making us righteous in God’s eyes.
This concept of righteousness is often difficult to accept, but God, through his different prophets throughout history, passed on this same message to us. Receive it. Live in freedom. Despite our past failures and flaws, the Lord is our righteousness. Jehovah Tsidkenu.