సాక్ష్యం 4. He kept a chariot and horses at the entrance of the courts for worship of the
sun.
5.He polluted the Holy Temple in a most horrible way by keeping the image
of heathen goddess Acherah at the Holy of Holies in the Temple.
6.He built houses for Sodomite priests that attended the shrines and altars.
7.He made his son to pass through the fire practiced divination observed
astrology.
We can understand that the above said points are an abomination to God. Manas’seh became so rude and proud that he never tried to bend his head before the living God. He bluntly rejected the prophetic warnings regarding the security of the nation. He tried to silence many divine rebukes. He filled the streets of Jerusalem with the blood of prophets and righteous people. The commentator Josephus said “Martyrdom had become every day activity of Manas’seh reign.”
According to Jewish history one of the noted martyrs was the aged prophet Isaiah. He was in one of his long prophetic ministry at that time. The Jews maintained in the record how Manas’seh killed the prophet Isaiah by cutting his body into two with the help of a wooden saw. Then God gave His judgment for all his cruel activities. The captains of Assyria took him to Babylon among the skin pearcing hooks and bound him with fetters. It is said that
The Everlasting Kingdom of God Manas’seh repented in his captivity and turned his head toward God. The Babylonian authorities then released him and he went to Jerusalem. His repentance urged him to remove everything including the image of Acherah from the Temple and the regular worship was restored. But there is no authentic information about the repentance of Manas’seh and the destruction of idols he installed.
FIFTEENTH KING – AMON: He was the son of Manas’seh who became the king at the age of 22. As a king he followed his father regarding idol worship. According to Biblical history Amon made the sacrifices to all carved images which he prepared and served with devotion. He never humbled before the God of his forefathers. Amon transgressed more and more against the will of God. His reign continued only for two years and his servants happened to kill him on his bed in his palace. He was buried like his father only in the garden of the royal palace but not in the royal tombs.
What can be assessed about the Temple maintenance during the reign of those fifteen Davidic dynastic rulers in Judaic empire? – as far as we understand it was God’s Holy Temple but this truth was not realized by the Jewish people including the kings. The Lord told king Solomon “I have hallowed this house to put my name forever and put my eyes and put mine heart shall be there perpetually?” (1 kings 9:3). God wished to dwell among men and the Temple was the testimony of Gods presence. If we study carefully the Biblical history we find that God’s house became a test for the nation’s spiritual litmus (test for the nation). Litmus here means changing of faith according to the conditions and conveniences. To be much clearer whenever the Temple was disregarded or desecrated it gave the impression that the Jewish people abandoned their true God and whenever the Temple was honored with due worship it reflected the nation’s affection for Yehweh of their forefathers. CHAPTER -4
The Everlasting Kingdom of God
DAVIDIC DYNASTIC RULERS PART – II
In the scriptures, the Lord’s Temple is called “The House of the Lord” more than 200 times. It indicates God’s desire to dwell among His chosen people on the earth. We know that, God dwelt with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and He will certainly dwell with His people again in future Messianic kingdom.
Let us see in this article, the remaining historical survey of the Temple during the last five kings of Davidic dynasty. Some information is already given about the condition of the Temple during the reign of the first fifteen kings starting with Rehoboam and ending with Amon. The rule of the last five kings was really hectic and in their rule we can see finally the catastrophic destruction of the Temple. It was really unimaginable and beyond comprehension to the Jewish people. They thought how God Almighty allowed the total destruction of His House by the heathen rulers.
SIXTEENTH KING - JOSIAH: He was suddenly pushed forward as the sixteenth king of Judah. He was just 8 years old at that time. The main reason was that his father Amon was brutally assassinated by his enemies. Josiah was a righteous man. He sincerely loved God, which was unmatchable and incomparable to any other Jewish king in history.
Josiah ruled for 31 years and brought religious reforms to Judah. At the age of 16 he sought for the God of David. At 20 he began a lifelong campaign to clean Judah and the capital Jerusalem from all idolatry. He destroyed the altars and also the wooden female deity into splinters. He stamped out the cruel sacrifices of innocent children in the Him-non valley. Josiah continued his extensive reform across Judah’s boarder as far as North Naphtali (tribal area of the former Northern kingdom of Israel). He destroyed the pagan shrines in every city and executed the idolatrous priests. The Lord also foretold the coming of righteous Josiah by name 200 years earlier and he proved his righteousness in all the acts he did in his reign. He completely destroyed two golden calves and the Temple of Jeroboam at Bethel and Dan. He left no symptoms of golden calf for any identification by future generations.
Then at the age of 26 Josiah commissioned a complete restoration of Jerusalem Temple and initially the idol pollution was removed. After renovation the king purged the levitical priesthood. The pagan altars in the Temple courts were demolished. The ceremonial vessels of the Temple that were used for Baal
The Everlasting Kingdom of God worship and the wooden Acherah idol which defiled the Holy of Holies were burnt in the Kidron valley. Then the ashes were taken to the unclean place of Bethel. The chariot and the horses of Mesopotoniah’s sun god were burnt. They were actually installed at the entrance of the Temple by his wicked grandfather Manas’seh. While the repairs were in progress to the Temple the high priest Hilkiah discovered the Temples scroll of Deuteronomy which was almost forgotten by Jews. God declared it as the original text written by prophet Moses. It was kept beside the Ark of Covenant as a testimony. Some faithful priests seemed to have hidden it 70 years ago and so it could not be destroyed by the king Manas’seh during his reign. When the scribe Shaiphan was reading the law from that scroll loudly Josiah tore his clothes in repentance and his heart was broken with grief. He realized in his mind how far he and his people neglected the law of God.
The king’s soul was in utter panic. He questioned himself whether a divine curse of Deuteronomy would fall upon his nation or whether the kingdom of Judah be destroyed like the northern kingdom of Israel. He was sitting at the outside Southern gate of the Temple at that time. He called for the prophetess Huldah at once and consulted with her about this scroll. After thorough examination she said it was the original scroll written by prophet Moses. And she added that God’s judgment would come upon Judah for their idol worship and Jerusalem be destroyed. Since Josiah was humbled before God such a calamity did not come during his reign. Surprisingly, he reintroduced the Passover feast and the feast of unleavened bread.
King Josiah read the scroll addressing the nation and people that gathered at the Temple court. As a result, the king and the people covenanted to obey God. He reappointed all the priests and Levites for their duties in the Temple. The Passover feast was celebrated with all pomp and glory that no other Judah king had done in such a grand scale. Since the time of prophet Samuel, The House of the Lord was cleansed and the ark of covenant kept in the Holy of Holies. This Arch of the Covenant was removed from its original place 70 years ago and in that place king Manas’seh kept the idol of Acherah, a female deity. But according to Jewish traditions the Levites had secretly hidden the Ark at the underground chamber of the Holy of Holies to protect it from the prophetic destruction of the House of the Lord in future.
The Hebrew prophets like Nohuman and Zephaniah prophesied at that time in Judah. There was no history of Nohuman but Zephaniah was a prince
The Everlasting Kingdom of God through the forest of Assyrian empire and bring a fairy destruction because they were the dead enemies to God’s people. The prophesy was fulfilled after the death of Assyrian king. The Medes from the North and Babylonians from the South crushed the Assyrians again Assyria and Egypt joined together and declared war against Judah and Babylon. In the war, Judah faced a defeat and Josiah was mortally wounded by the Egyptian arrow. He died at the age of 39 and Judah went into the hands of Egyptians.
Among all the Davidic family rulers Josiah was the only God fearing and humble person throughout his reign. So his sudden death brought him highest state honors with a burial in the Davidic royal tombs. He was greatly mourned by prophet Jeremiah and the whole nation because of his sincere love towards God. He was the last king to be buried in the royal tombs as a special case for his role in restoring Davidic rule in Jerusalem. The sad demise of Josiah was a spiritual vacuum to the nation. After his death Judah experienced a free fall to the Babylonians captivity as if the news had gone to the notice of God for judgment and in 23 years the kingdom of Judah and its glorious Temple were completely destroyed by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar.
SEVENTEENTH KING - JEHOIAHAZ: He was the fourth son of Josiah. He possessed a required confidence and military leadership which were badly needed in his time for the nation as it was in the midst of conflicts with Egypt. Anyway he occupied a throne of Judah without the acceptance of Egypt. In such a critical situation Egypt had developed unnecessary prejudice and occupied Jerusalem immediately and imposed harsh punishment upon Israelites. Pharoah Necho condemned the land to a crushing annual tribute of one talent of gold (roughly 1100 troy ounces) and 100 talents of silver (which is more than three tons). Apart from that the king introduced a new system of religious course for the nation. This new set of spiritual course was declared in the divine record that he followed evil and abandoned the true religious reforms of his father Josiah. He reigned only for three months and then he was removed from the kingship. After this he was taken to the Egyptian military command center which was in North Damascus to sentence him. He was taken in chains to Egypt. He returned no more to his homeland after this incident and the prophecy of Jeremiah was fulfilled. This danger could have been averted if God had sent prophet Jeremiah earlier to preach outside the royal palace. The prophet called the nation to return to the Lord but the message was refused by the people. Then Jeremiah boldly said, “for this saith the Lord touching Shallum the son of
The Everlasting Kingdom of God Josiah – he shall die in the place whether they have led him captivity and shall see this land no more.
True sincerity was not routed out in human confidence and leadership skills. The psalmist knew well about this when he prayed “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills” (Psalms 121:1). It means he prayed to God by turning his face toward the Temple mountain of Jerusalem. He confessed “My help commeth from the Lord which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer my foot to be moved he that keepeth thee will not slumber” (Psalm 121:2-3). Deliverance comes from the ever vigilant Lord maker of heaven and earth.
EIGHTEENTH KING - JEHOIAKIM: Pharoah Necho installed “Eliakim” the second son of Josiah as the eighteenth king of Judah by changing his name into Jehoiakim. He ruled for 11 years in Jerusalem and became relentless in pursuit of the evil. Much was heard about Jehoiakim’s evil from the prophesy of Jeremiah one of the greatest Hebrew prophets in the Bible. He came from a wealthy family of priests in Anotath which is in north of Jerusalem. He was called into prophetic office when he was still in his mothers womb. Jeremiah received his first prophesy when Josiah was in his 13th year of rule. His 40 years ministry continued in the reign of final five kings till the time of Babylonian exile. He stood at the gate and called people for repentance “Trust ye not in lying words” saying “the Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord are these.” (Jeremiah 7:4). The people blindly believed that they were safe because the Temple was in their midst but the Lord reminded Israel by saying he would not destroy Jerusalem and the Temple for their unrepenting as he destroyed the site of tabernacle in “Shiloh” centuries ago for their wickedness.
As recorded, it was in the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the Lord directed Jeremiah to prophesize outside the Temple gate. God time and again urged Israel to repent if not he would destroy Jerusalem and finally ordered Jeremiah to wear cattle yoke on his shoulders as a prophetic sign of the coming of catastrophic Babylonian captivity. Those who heard this message were shocked. They arrested Jeremiah for treason and brought him to the court immediately. All the people that gathered there shouted in one voice demanding imprisonment and it was done by the authorities.
But Ahaikam a government servant under Josiah protected Jeremiah. The elders of the church finally said that Jeremiah would not deserve any capital punishment like death for his prophesy in the name of the Lord. Urizah also
The Everlasting Kingdom of God officers pursued the prophet and he was brought back to Jerusalem. The king Jehoiakim murdered Urizah the prophet and left the body unburied to become rot among the groves of the poor outside the city walls.
In 605 B.C. the fourth year of Jehoiakim’s rule the domination of Egypt over Judah suddenly changed and Nebuchadnezzar became the king of Babylon. Then he marched his army to the city of Carchemost (the old Hittite capital) on the Euphrates river. The Babylonians crushed the joint forces of Egypt and Assyria. The result was Babylon occupied a major part of Egypt and even Judah. Then in 606 B.C. the king of Babylon besieged Jerusalem and carried part of gold and silver of the Temple and kept them in his god’s Temple. We studied previously that during the reign of Hezekiah God blessed him with more riches and the king became proud of it. He showed his wealth to the envoys who came from Babylon to wish him on his recovery from illness. On that occasion prophet Isaiah scolded him for his foolish act and told him that one day the king of Babylon would come and take away all he preserved from his forefathers and now it was the result of that prophecy. The king went not only with precious things but also with some captives as the first installment. Among the first captives Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were also there. Daniel prophesized in the later years in Babylon that the second Temple would also be destroyed by the Greek ruler Antiochus Epiphanes and it was in 168 B.C. He also said at the end of the age an enemy of Israel (sometimes called antichrist) will arise and desecrate the Lord’s Temple. He will setup an idolatrous image and stop the sacrifices. In 605 B.C. God commanded Jeremiah to write all the prophecies he received from the beginning of his ministry. He dictated them to his secretary Baruch and he had inscribed them in a scroll. In the fifth year of Jehoiakim’s rule Jeremiah sent Baruch to the Temple to read his prophecies to his people. Jeremiah was also a priest apart from prophet. But he did not give messages in the Temple. Baruch read the prophecies and warned Israelites not to trust Egyptians for deliverance from Babylon and added the king would destroy Jerusalem and kill the people. The king became very serious for the remarks and commanded the prophecies to be read again in his presence. Then he burned the prophecies piece by piece and warm himself in his winter palace. The king after this ordered for the arrest of both Jeremiah and Baruch, but they hid themselves from them.
Jeremiah was also called a weeping prophet. Though the prophecies were burned the Word of God was not stopped by the burning of the scroll. As a matter of fact, this action increased the severity of God judgment. Jeremiah
The Everlasting Kingdom of God then made another scroll and gave it for reading. The king remained defiant against divine denouncement of his sin. He reacted much and looked for the prophet perhaps to kill him. Since the king valued only the respect of men he received no honor or mourning after death. As he did not allow the burial of Urijah prophet the dead body of Jehoiakim was also not buried but dragged to outside the city to rot like a bloated donkey. Another sin he committed was he shed much blood of innocent people to safeguard himself. Then in 601 B.C. the Babylonian king came and demanded Judah to pay heavy annual tribute to maintain peace with his kingdom. He accepted to pay as he was threatened. In 693 B.C. he rebelled against Babylon and supported Egypt. The result was the king of Babylon attacked Jerusalem also. In such conditions Jehoiakim simply kept open the doors of Jerusalem city for the entry of the army. They killed many noted leaders and the king carried the vessels of the Temple to Babylon. The major items taken from the Temple were Menorah, shew bread table and incense altar. The king was put in shackles for exile to Babylon. But Nebuchadnezzar changed his mind and executed him immediately. Jehoiakim faced a cruel death at the age of 36. He reigned for 11 years and the prophecy of Jeremiah was fulfilled. His corpse was thrown outside Jerusalem gate as a warning from Babylon. He was not mourned nor given honorable burial in the royal tombs of his forefathers. Then the reign of Jehoiakim was the most disastrous one to Judah. He left the Jewish nation and the people in spiritual and political chaos. NINETEENTH KING - JEHOIACHIN: Jehoiakim died in 598 and his son Jehhoiachin was crowned as nineteenth king of Judah. He had some other names like Jeconiah or Coniah. He was the grandson of Godly king Josiah but he did all which was evil in the sight of God. Prophet Jeremiah delivered a fairy condemnation against Jehoiachin. The Lord said even though Jehoiachin was the king of Judah he was like a priceless signet ring on his right hand. He simply removed it and put it to the hands of the king of Babylon because Jehoiachin committed to the godless polices like his father. So God cursed him that none of Jehoiachin’s heirs should sit on the throne of David “write ye this man childless a man that shall not prosper in his days for no man of his seed shall prosper sitting upon the throne of David and ruling anymore in Judah.” (Jeremiah 22:30). The impact of this curse should be ignored because the Messiah had to be raised from Davidic dynasty to rule Millennial Messianic kingdom in future. The (virgin) birth of Messiah brings an amazing harmony between Jeconias curse and the Messianic prophecies. The physical son of Mary was Jesus and He
The Everlasting Kingdom of God was also a physical son of David through non cursed line of David’s son “Nathan” As the legal son of Joseph (a descendant of Jehoiachin) Jesus was also legally qualified to the Davidic throne without falling under the curse of Jehoiachin. The Hebrew scripture also made Jesus qualified to sit on the throne of David and rule over Israel forever from Jerusalem.
The king of Babylon felt sorry for making Jehoiachin king of Judah because he might take vengeance for killing his father Jehoiakim brutally. It was the time Nebuchadnezzar prepared to seize Jerusalem for the second time in 593 B.C. by that time Jehoiachin’s family was already surrendered to Babylon. So the king deposed him from Judah’s throne only after three months and 10 days. The Babylonians carried him along with 10,000 leaders of Judah. Jehoiachin spent the rest of 47 years in Babylon’s hardest prison but shortly before his death the kings son became considerate towards Jehoiachin and released him from the prison and kept him in the house arrest.
The king Nebuchadnezzar seized all the funds of the Temple treasury and royal palace. Everything was done only in the fulfillment of the Word of God that was spoken by prophet Isaiah more than 100 years ago to the king Hezekiah. “Behold the days come that have laid up in store unto this day can be carried into Babylon nothing shall be left saith the Lord.” (2 kings 20:17). The king took the golden bowels and measuring items also which king Solomon made for the Temple. Jeremiah prophesized that it was not an end. The Temple would be plundered even further in future. Prophet Elkaiah was one of the exiled priests in the second deportation in 593 B.C. He was a descendant of Zadok the first high priest of Solomon’s Temple. He prophesized in Babylon exile. He got a vision about the idolatrous pollution of the Temple and the deportation of the Shechinah glory in preparation for Babylonian destruction.
Just at that time the wife of Ezekiah died on the day the final seize of Jehoiakim began. It was really a pathetic sign that the Lord could also destroy His own house to the excellence of the nation. In the meantime, Ezekiah got another vision regarding the future of Shechinah glory to the Messianic Temple. God said about the Messianic Temple as the place of my throne and the place of the source of my feet where I dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever. As recorded the Shechinah glory would not depart again nor the house of the Lord be destroyed forever. God will dwell in the midst of Israel according to his promise.
The Everlasting Kingdom of God TWENTIETH KING - ZEDEKIAH: Now the king of Babylon had full control over Judah. In 597 B.C Nebuchadnezzar changed the name of the second son of Josiah into Zedekiah and installed him as the twentieth king of Judah. Then he forced Zedekiah to swear a solemn oath in the name of the God of Israel with full and unwavering allegiance to Babylon. Zedekiah ruled for 11 years and followed the way of the life of his two brothers Jehoahaz and Jehoiakim including evil doings. The Temple was not taken care of in his reign because it had to be controlled by sinful men. In this context, Jesus might echo the prophetic words of the prophet Jeremiah “In this house which is called by my name become a den of robbers in your eye?” (Jeremiah 7:11). Jeremiah returned to preaching in the Temple courts by keeping the wooden yoke on his shoulders.
Jeremiah warned Zedekiah by saying “bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him and his people and live.” When Zedekiah was in the fourth year of his reign in 594 B.C. one unhappy incident took place in the outer court of the Temple. It was between Jeremiah and a false prophet Hananiah the controversy was Hananiah opposed the prophecies of Jeremiah and encouraged the nation to rebel against Babylon. Then Hananiah seized the yoke from Jeremiah and broke it into pieces. He gave a wrong prophecy that nothing would happen to the house of the God of Israel. “Thus speaketh the Lord of the house of the king of Babylon which is in true will. I bring again into this place and the vessels of the Lord’s house that Nebuchadnezzar looted and carried away to Babylon”.
The Lord gave his judgment upon the false prophet Hananiah who had broken the wooden yoke from the neck of Jeremiah. The lies of Hananiah had created an iron yoke upon the people for the confirmation of Jeremiah’s prophecies. The judgment of God upon Hananiah was that he would die within a year and he died accordingly in the fall of that year. Then regarding Zedekiah he pretended to be obedient toward Babylon but he wanted freedom to his nation. He appeared to be serving the Lord before Jeremiah but rejected Gods warning in the presence of his princes thereby he remained faraway from God and continued his evil doings. He was never humbled before God. Even the people by their evil doings polluted the house of the Lord.
During 586 B.C. the faithless Zedekiah broke his solemn oath to God and rebelled against Babylon. The result was that the full force of divine judgment was no longer delayed. The king deployed a huge force under the command of six generals to crush Jerusalem. Though Zedekiah made some alliance with
The Everlasting Kingdom of God Egypt the Babylonian army ,could enter Jerusalem. They destroyed the city, looted the Holy Temple and went with more captives. This was the third and final attack by Babylon. Now persecution of God’s people like Jeremiah was restored. He was charged with treason and arrested. The officials beat him black and blue and threw him in Jerusalems much feared prison. Later Zedekiah’s officials threw him into a muddy cistern. He was almost perished due to extreme exposition and starvation while Jeremiah was recovering from his illness Zedekiah sent his officials to request his God regarding the position of Judah but Jeremiah asked Zedekiah to surrender Jerusalem. Thus saith the Lord “Behold I said before few the way of life and the way of death. He that abideth in this city shall die by the sword and by the famine and by pestilemce but he that goeth out and falleth to the Chaldeans that besiege you he shall live.” (Jeremiah 21:8-9). Zedekiah and his princes bluntly refused the divine reply. As predicted famine entered the city. There was limited water supply. The inmates started eating dung diseased meat of dead animals and weeds. There was no sanitation. Disease and parasite infections were rampant. There were bitter fighting’s and continuous quarrelings among themselves. When Zedekiah saw the capital city was lost he fled into the Judean wilderness with his officials in darkness. But he was captured 20 miles away from Jericho and brought to Nebuchadnezzar face to face because he was an oath breaker who deserved some punishment. His final sight was the ghory execution of his sons. Then his eyes were removed and taken in double braze cutters to the Babylon. The other officials were also executed. The exiled Jews were kept in a faraway place and from there they cried unto God to Jerusalem and to the Temple. They cried “By the rivers of Babylon there we sat down ye we wept when we remembered the Zion – it is said individually “If I forget thee O Jerusalem let my right hand forget her cunning” (Psalms 137:1-5).
Nebuchadnezzar completed the execution of all leaders. Then he sent again the captains of his bodyguards to Jerusalem in 586 B.C. for the total destruction. As the king planned the city walls were toppled and mansions set ablazed. The House of the Lord stripped off all its treasures. They burnt the Holy Temple also and it was reduced to a blackened pile of rubbles. As a result, there was no more sacrifices and according to history such barbarous act never took place in 374 years of history of the first Temple nor in 900 years from the time of the construction of wilderness tabernacle at Mount Sinai in about 1446 B.C. Even the trees were razed on the mountain of the Lord and the wild animals moved freely in the site of the Temple. Whatever might be the historical background for the total destruction of the Lord’s Temple it is pathetic and
The Everlasting Kingdom of God critical to examine. As we know, God was not powerless to stop that in human act for God did not allow the enemies intentionally to ruin His house. He always loved His house and has His future plan and promised to keep His house permanently on the mount Zion.
The Holy Temple was not a talisman. It became more precious because the Shechinah glory and the Ark of covenant were kept inside. Israelites had the privilege of keeping the Temple in the midst of their nation but it could not protect them from outside dangers. It did not give permission for people to commit sin nor it could stop God’s judgment for their sin. The scripture is quite clear and gave the reason for destruction of the first Temple. “The Israelites departed from the Lord and their spiritual abandonment was quite evident through scripture. And they left the house of the Lord God of their forefathers and served groves and idols and God’s wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this trespass.” (2 Chronicles 24:18). They forgot their God and polluted His house. Though king Solomon built the house magnificently the apostasy (falling away from God) had begun by the same king Solomon because of his too many heathen wives. And this apostasy reached its pinnacle during the reign of Manas’seh. So God realized and decided to take revenge. He said “ because thou hast defiled my sanctuary – I will cause my fury to rest upon them.” That is the reason why God justified their destruction. He was right and perfect in what He did. He hates sin and also gave suitable judgment. The judgment is always balanced with the spiritual offence. But the judgment of God was not one sided. The righteous God on one hand and the people of Babylon for their evil act on the Mount Zion were reasonable for this outcome. God soon bring upon Babylon the vengeance of His Temple for disregarding His house. He delayed His judgment because He wanted to give them enough time for repentance. God’s judgment would come with proper announcement and if once it comes it is inescapable. It would come only after repeated warnings “and the Lord God of their forefathers sent to them by his messengers – because he had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place. The Lord already revealed through the scriptures the coming destruction of the Temple 474 years before God even warned king Solomon and Israelites at the time of its dedication by saying “But if ye turned away and forsake my statuettes – this house which I had sanctified for my name, will I cast out of my sight.” (2 chronicles 7:19-20). Prophet Amos foresaw the Lord stroke Temple in judgment. (Amos 9:1).
Prophet Jeremiah prophesized that the Temple would be like Shiloh (Jeremiah 7:14) which is a reminder that in their sinful past God had allowed
The Everlasting Kingdom of God the Philistines to destroy the tabernacle site at Shiloh. The Lord proclaimed through Ezekiel “Behold I will propane my sanctuary.” (Ezekiel 24:21). There are many more quotations in support of God’s judgment. These quotations clearly show that God had sent warnings again and again through His prophets. We can also see how God is merciful at the time of deliverance of His people. (for this saith the Lord that after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you and perform by good word toward you in causing you to return to this place.” (Jeremiah 29:10). God would graciously deliver His people from Babylon and return to them to rebuild His house in Jerusalem. So far we have seen the destruction of the Temple and God’s faithfulness to His promises. For this saith the Lord, like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people so well and bring upon them all the good that I have promised them.” The glorious future promises of God were as absolute and certain as His fulfilled judgment in the past. The Messiah will rule forever by sitting on David’s throne. The increase of His government and the peace shall be no end of the throne of David and upon His kingdom in order to establish His judgment with justice from henceforth even forever.
The Messianic Temple will be built on Mount Zion as the place of His throne and the place of the sores of His feet which He dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever. For seventy years Mount Zion would be barren without the house of the Lord. But the absence of God’s Temple would be just temporary. God would bring back all the captives and the Temple be rebuilt. 20 KINGS OF DAVIDIC DYNASTY:
11.Jotham.
1.Rehoboam.
12.Ahaz.
2.Abijam or Abija or Abia
13.Hezekiah.
3.ASa
14.Manas’seh.
4.Jehosopat.
15.Amon.