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Jeremiah 23:5-6, ". . I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King. . . shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name. . . The Lord Our Righteousness."
Answer for yourself: This is said to refer to Jesus, the branch of David who is the righteous Lord. But is it really a prophecy about him or ever meant to refer to him in the first place?
Yes, the Davidic Messiah is to come. But, where is there any pointing to Jesus in this passage? Except in the specificity forced in the backward look of Christianity there is absolutely no connection to Jesus here. Moreover, as we are sharing with the readership, we are showing that Jesus did not fulfill the salient requirements of the Messiah as propounded in this Hebrew Scripture. Connection and fulfillment are lacking.
Jesus, never was a king in an earthly kingdom, which the Bible says the Messiah is to be. He did not rule a prosperous land, where he judged and imparted justice in the earth. Note that it says, "in the earth," which is not the heavenly kingdom of Christianity
In his days, Judah and Israel shall be saved and safe. This eliminates Jesus as the "righteous branch," because Israel remained troubled in his days. The Jewish people did not have safety. The Romans continued their cruel occupation. Indeed, the Second Temple was destroyed by the oppressors just forty years after Jesus' lifetime.
If the "second coming" is when Jesus is to fulfill Jeremiah's writing, then the "first coming" of someone else would be just as proper to identify as pre-Messianic. The only consideration needed is the fulfillment of the Messianic expectations, not what happened before. Remember also, we have exposed in other articles the lack of validity of a return by Jesus, which is Christianity's answer to Jesus' non-accomplishment as presumed Messiah.
Jesus' name was not "The Lord Our Righteousness," but Jeshua. The symbolic name could have been given to Jesus. Names associated with aspects of G-d are given to people as well as objects as a sign of respect to G-d. Note the following example in Exodus 17:15, "And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovahnissi: (the Lord is my Banner)."
The correct translation reading is, "The Lord Is Our Righteousness," with the verb included properly from the Hebrew rendering in which it is understood. Therefore, the symbolic name of righteousness belongs to G-d, and the words actually do not describe the Messiah king. So even if you ascribe to the belief that Jesus is the Messiah the passage was never meant to refer to the Messiah and thus by default does not refer to Jesus.
One further observation is that, very strangely, in Jeremiah 33:16 we find, "In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The Lord our righteousness." This should fully end speculation that the Messiah is equated with G-d any more than Jerusalem would be G-d Himself.
Bennoah1@verizon.net