Jeremiah 52
Vs. 3ff The Lord became angry with Jerusalem and Judah and threw the people out of His sight. King Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. On the tenth day of the tenth month of the ninth year of King Zedekiah's reign, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked Jerusalem with his entire army.
Then we read about how he and his Captain of the Guard destroyed everything, and deported a total of 4,600 people to Babylon, leaving only a few poor people "to work in the vineyards and on the farms," burning every important building, tearing down the Temple and the wall, and carrying everything of value to Babylon.
II Kings 24-25
Basically tells the same story, mentioning that King Nebuchadnezzar captured all Jerusalem, all the generals, all the soldiers (10,00 prisoners), and all the craftsmen and smiths (24:14). And he brought all 7,000 of the prominent landowners, 1,000 craftsmen and smiths, and all the men who could fight in war as captives to Babylon (24:16).
And he set up a puppet government in Jerusalem to maintain order (25:22).
These two passages both describe in detail the same account of the fulfillment of prophesy for the total destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple and the walls of the city that were all broken down.
God is always true to His Word. When Israel had obeyed God's rules, they experienced prosperity and peaceful relations with other Nations. But that didn't last very long.
When they turned away from the Lord, He sent prophets to bring them back, but they were enticed and deceived by all the other gods among them, the ideas and attitudes of the World around them.
So they persisted in their rebellion, and were destroyed, just as God said would happen. But that destruction was not permanent. Everything that happens on this Earth always "comes to pass," never to stay.
So God will bring His people Israel back to return to the Land, as they did under Persian King Xerxes and King Artaxerxes; and as we see has happened again today (after 2,000 years!). And He will build them up again if they obey His commandments. The cycle continues 'round and 'round.
God is still God, and His rules are still in effect on this Earth. Now we see the fulfillment of Jeremiah 31:33-34, that says that I will put My Law within them, and on their heart I will write it, instead of on tablets or parchment. Jesus fulfilled all those laws, and today we have the Principle of Love in our hearts, that underlies all the Law, as Jesus said in Matthew 22:37-40.
But He hasn't forgotten His people Israel. He will always do as He said He would. Not always the way we expect, or even desire, but just exactly as He said He would.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
