In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel itself will reside in security. And this is his name with which he will be called, ‘Jehovah Is Our Righteousness.’”​—Jer. 23:3-6.

9. Why does the fact that the name of the promised “shepherd” was to be “Jehovah Is Our Righteousness” not mean that he is Jehovah himself?

⁹ “He shall be called: ‘The Lord is our Vindicator.’” That is how the 1978 edition of the translation by the Jewish Publication Society of America rendered Jeremiah 23:6, whereas Moffatt’s translation reads, “our champion.” No man on earth came to bear that name literally. Yet the prophecy is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. His becoming entitled to that name does not mean that Jesus is Jehovah God himself. The Israelite called Jehozadak, whose name means “Jehovah Declared Righteous” or “Jehovah Is Righteous,” was not Jehovah himself. (1 Chron. 6:14, 15) Jeremiah 33:16 tells us that even Jerusalem was to be called “Jehovah Is Our Righteousness,” but does that mean that Jerusalem was Jehovah himself? No! The name of the last reigning king of Jerusalem was Zedekiah, and that name means “The Righteousness of Jah.” The king who was to be called “Jehovah Is Our Righteousness,” namely, Jesus Christ, contrasts sharply with King Zedekiah.

10, 11. (a) Upon which people was the promise of Jeremiah 23:5, 6 fulfilled? (b) To whom did the name “Jehovah Is Our Righteousness” properly become attached, and how so?

¹⁰ The prophecy of Jeremiah 23:5, 6 was not fulfilled in Jesus’ day upon literal Judah and Israel and Jerusalem. Those Jewish elements rejected Jesus as the Messiah. They suffered ruin and dispersion by the Romans in 70 C.E. Actually the prophecy is fulfilled upon spiritual Israelites, Christ’s anointed disciples.

¹¹ During World War I of 1914-1918 the remnant of spiritual Israelites was dispersed by the clergy and nations of Christendom that were then engaged in world war. But from 1919 onward Jehovah used the glorified Jesus Christ to collect the dispersed remnant together into a spiritual unity, world wide. The members of this repentant, restored remnant of spiritual Israelites were cleansed and thus made fit to proclaim “this good news of the kingdom” internationally, in “all the inhabited earth.” (Matt. 24:9-14) In this way, by Jehovah’s undeserved kindness through Christ, they were declared righteous or were vindicated. Jehovah proved to be their Backer, their “champion,” and they became his Christian witnesses. (Isa. 43:10) Inasmuch as this favor was to come through the then enthroned Royal Shepherd, Jesus Christ, the name “Jehovah Is Our Righteousness” deserved to be attached to him.

This “righteous sprout,” Jesus Christ, laid down his perfect human life as a sacrifice for his future human subjects. By doing this he laid the basis for 144,000 dedicated followers of his to be ‘declared righteous’ with a view to their becoming joint heirs with him in his heavenly kingdom. (Rom. 8:14-17; 1 Cor. 1:30, 31) Since 1919 C.E., despite the accusations made by the clergy of Christendom against the remnant of these 144,000 Kingdom heirs, Jehovah has restored this remnant to his favor and service. Thereby Jehovah has championed them, vindicated them or ‘declared them righteous,’ through Christ.​—Rom. 8:31-33; Jer. 23:6, Moffatt; JPS; NW.

15. In contrast with the state of the anointed remnant, in what condition does Christendom find herself now?

¹⁵ Under the heavenly King, the one called “Jehovah Is Our Righteousness,” the restored remnant of spiritual Israelites resides in a spiritual paradise. (Jer. 23:3-6)