Who Is On the Throne?

After teaching the book of Ezra today in my 9th grade class I revisited some questions of my own. After the exile who would be Israel's king? What happened to the line of ancestors after King Jehoiachin and Zedekiah? What did the people in Jesus' time think of when they were waiting for a Messiah, an Anointed One (King?)?

Did I lose you with those questions? I hope not! These questions are only part of the amazing connections I was trying to make in my brain between the people of God in the OT and the Christ in the NT. These questions lead us to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Messiah!* Here are some pretty amazing verses God showed me today.

Jeremiah 22
24 "As surely as I live," declares the LORD, "even if you, Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, were a signet ring on my right hand, I would still pull you off. 25 I will hand you over to those who seek your life, those you fear—to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and to the Babylonians. 26 I will hurl you and the mother who gave you birth into another country, where neither of you was born, and there you both will die. 27 You will never come back to the land you long to return to."

28 Is this man Jehoiachin a despised, broken pot,
an object no one wants?
Why will he and his children be hurled out,
cast into a land they do not know?

29 O land, land, land,
hear the word of the LORD!

30 This is what the LORD says:
"Record this man as if childless,
a man who will not prosper in his lifetime,
for none of his offspring will prosper,
none will sit on the throne of David
or rule anymore in Judah."

God was patient with His people but the kings continued to do evil in the eyes of the Lord. Finally he had to fulfill the consequences of Levitics 26 and Deuteronomy 28. This verse 30 is why the line of kings did not continue after exile. The prophet spoke God's word, "None of his offspring...will sit on the throne of David or rule..."

So what did the prophet say right after that? Where was the people's hope? A beautiful passage follows.

Jeremiah 23
5 "The days are coming," declares the LORD,
"when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch,
a King who will reign wisely
and do what is just and right in the land."

This righteous Branch, traced in Matthew 1 through David's line, including the failed kings Jehoiachin and his ancestors, is JESUS! He is the King of all kings! He will reign wisely and justly. He will not fail like the kings before have failed. He is the awaited one we worship.

"So Pilate asked Jesus, 'Are you the king of the Jews?'
'Yes, it is as you say,' Jesus replied."--Luke 23.3

*Messiah [Hebrew]=Christ [Greek]=Anointed One[English]--from 1 Samuel 9.16 "anointed" usually refers to the king (NIV study Bible footnote)