In the Old Testament there are many prophecy's that are fulfilled and proven in the scriptures and this morning I wanted toss one out that blew my mind that Friday at my Men's Bible Study. We've been going through 2Kings and just finished the last chapter which is 25. Here is the background on 2 Kings 25, Zedekiah had run from Jerusalem and was captured and brought before the king of Babylon in Judah. There his eyes were poked out and he was carried captive to Babylon. We find a verse in there that solves a prophetic mystery as two other prophets were on the scene and spoke two different stories here is what they said in their books.
Jeremiah 34:3 "And you shall not escape from his hand, but shall certainly be taken and delivered into his; your eyes shall see the eyes of the king of Babylon, he shall speak with you face to face and you shall go to Babylon'"'. Ok, so Jeremiah is saying that his eyes shall see the king. But look at Ezekiel...
Ezekiel 12:13 "... I will bring him to Babylon, to the land of the Chaldeans; yet he shall not see it..." Obviously this can come across as a contradiction but it's not.
In verse 7 of 2Kings 25 we read this "Then they killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, put out the eyes of Zedekiah, bound him with bronze fetters, and took him to Babylon." So which of these prophets were right are they really contradicting themselves. The answer is they are both right and in God's perfect Word he lays out something improbable that proves two opposite points and makes them coordinate. I found this awesome and I hope you all do too. God bless.
Ben
1 comment:
Great post Ben. I like how you cross referenced the different prophets. However, not losing sight of the fulfillment you speak about – we must remember that most of Jeremiah (and the greater prophets) have dual fulfillments – during the Fall of Jerusalem and the modern day major fulfillment (fall of figurative Jerusalem). Indeed many prophets and their writings foreshadowed and prefigured other things, to include Jesus Christ himself as Messiah (in Isaiah for example).
Regarding Zedekiah actually seeing Babylon (and the seemingly contradiction), there really is no indication anywhere that he saw Babylon. When all verses are compared, the story stands as spoken of in 2 Kings. In the month Tammuz, the Babylonians made a breach in the wall and entered and took possession of the Middle Gate. It was too late now for King Zedekiah to surrender. He fled by night, but was overtaken in the desert plains of Jericho near the Jordan River and taken to Nebuchadnezzar. There the king of Babylon slaughtered Zedekiah’s sons before his eyes. Then he blinded Zedekiah and took him in fetters to Babylon, where he died. (Jer. 39:2-8)
In further detail, Tammuz being “in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month,” Jerusalem was broken through. By night Zedekiah and the men of war took to flight. Overtaken in the desert plains of Jericho, Zedekiah was taken to Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah. Zedekiah’s sons were slaughtered before his eyes, and killed all the nobles of Judah. As Zedekiah was only about 32 years of age at the time, the boys could not have been very old. After witnessing the death of his sons, Zedekiah was blinded, bound with copper fetters, and taken to Babylon, where he died in the house of custody. Just as Ezekiel had foretold, he came to Babylon, but did not see it.
—Ezek. 12:12, 13. Also see —2Ki 25:2-7; Jer 39:2-7; 44:30; 52:6-11; then compare to Jer 24:8-10; Eze 12:11-16; 21:25-27.
In regards to Jeremiah 34:3 - verses 17-22 states “Here I am commanding,” is the utterance of God, “and I shall certainly bring them back to this city, and they must fight against it and capture it and burn it with fire; and the cities of Judah I shall make a desolate waste without an inhabitant.”’”—Jer. 34:17-22; compare Genesis 15:10-18. That prophecy had it’s fulfillment but also presages False religion’s (unfaithful Jerusalem) fall and destruction before the worldly forces (Babylon) of today. So really then , Jeremiah saw the fulfillment of many prophecies conveyed to God’s people, including ancient prophecies.
E.g.- centuries earlier, Moses set before Israel the consequences of obeying or disobeying God—either “the blessing” or “the malediction.” God wanted the best for his people, the blessings. The maledictions resulting from disobedience, on the other hand, would be horrendous. Moses warned—and Jeremiah later repeated—that those ignoring and opposing Jehovah would even “eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters.” (Deut. 30:19, 20; Jer. 19:9; Lev. 26:29) During the Babylonian siege, when food was not to be found, that did occur. “The very hands of compassionate women have boiled their own children,” Jeremiah reported. “They have become as bread of consolation to one during the breakdown of the daughter of my people.” In Lamentations 4:10.
So seeing that 2 Kings prophecy isn't contradictory at all, but like you say – awesome – the real awesomeness are for the larger prophecies Jeremiah presented. And why? - First, because he proved the reliability of God’s words. Second, because some of God’s pronouncements through Jeremiah are now being fulfilled. And Third, like Jeremiah, we live at a time when crucial Bible prophecies are yet to be fulfilled and most importantly, how they affect us now – such as is Jeremiahs chapter 34 and its direct link to Matthew 24:15-22.
Thanks for reading!
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