Great prophets of God warned Judah of its impending doom. Zedekiahwas sitting on the throne. From Babylon, the great prophet Ezekiel was warning the Jews left under Zedekiah that Jerusalem would be destroyed. Jeremiah, having begun his work under Josiah, likewise, spoke of the end of Jerusalem. Zedekiah was an uncle to Johoiachin that fulfilled the prophecy of Jeremiah that none of Jehoiachin’s descendants would ever sit on the throne ruling in Jerusalem (Jeremiah 22:30). The uncle then reigned for some eleven years.
The first twenty-four chapters of Ezekiel were directed to the Jews who were still in Jerusalem under Zedekiah. The 21st chapter of Ezekiel speaks about the sword of the Lord being sharpened and furbished. The destruction was coming in less than eleven years. The point of the Lord’s sword was pointing at all the gates of Jerusalem, meaning Jerusalem would be surrounded by the Babylonians. Jeremiah spoke of those in Jerusalem at this time that they were giving Jeremiah a hard time to the point he was getting discouraged (Jeremiah15:10-18). False prophets on both fronts (Babylon and Judah) made things for these two prophets, very hard.
If Jerusalem fell during the days of Zedekiah, what would this prove? It would validate the Word of God. How so, you ask? God said He would cause His fury to rest. It would rest because God’s fury had accomplished what God said that it would. Then the Lord says, “…I the Lord have said it.”(Ezekiel 21:17). At the close of this same chapter we find those same words (verse 32). Jerusalem would fall because God said it would. If it did not fall, then God did not tell the truth. Since God affirms that it is impossible for Him to lie, Jerusalem had to fall to validate that what God said had come to pass. Zedekiah tried to work out a deal with Egypt that made Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon greatly angry. He comes against Judah and lays siege to the city for some two years before it fell.
Take the time to read through the five chapters of the book of Lamentations and see that what God said did happen. Zedekiah tried to escape but was captured. He was brought to the king of Babylon. His sons were killed in front of him and then the Babylonians put out his eyes. He was taken to Babylon but as Jeremiah had prophesied, he never “saw” Babylon. The Name of God and the glory due Him is something God has always protected. The reason being that if God does not do what He said He would do, then He would have no proof that He is the eternal God.
Jesus dying on the cross was a result of the determinate council of God and His foreknowledge (Acts 2:23). In the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law (Galatians 4:4). Jesus dying on the cross shed His precious blood. That blood was used to atone for the sins of man that man might have forgiveness of sins (Ephesians 1:7). The blood was also used to purchase the church of Christ (Acts 20:28). Those who believe in the rapture can only describe this blood bought institution as a “substitute” until Christ comes back to set up His kingdom. It is so hard to imagine the weakness of man’s reasoning to believe or utter such a horrible false idea. The church is the kingdom that Christ came to set up (Daniel 2:44; Matthew 16:19).
How do we know that such is true? Because the Lord spoke it! All Scripture has as its origin, the God of heaven (II Timothy 3:16). If God said He would set up a kingdom during the days of the fourth world power from Babylon, then said kingdom has been established. If not, then God did not do what He said. The God of heaven is real and His name is not Allah. His Son Jesus the Christ is the only Savior of the world (Matthew 1:21; Acts 4:12). Jerusalem fell in the days of Zedekiah and it was burned. It would rebuild and fall again in A.D. 70. Both events prove that the Lord is God.