Jerusalem

When Judah was later carried into captivity to Babylon, Jerusalem was destroyed by three attacks. First, Nebuchadnezzar came and took away the best of Jerusalem. He took the most educated of the Jews. This included Daniel and Ezekiel. After this the false prophets in Jerusalem prophesied peace and said all would be well and Babylon would not come back. They justified this assurance in two ways:

1. The temple was in Jerusalem and God would never destroy it. It had become an idol.

2. God had promised to David that there would never fail a king in his line upon his throne.

The rulers of Jerusalem were in effect saying, “Let sin continue that grace may abound.”. They believed that God would not judge their sin. But they misread God. God would fulfil His promises to David, but not necessarily through them, but through the Seed of promise, Christ.

Ezekiel wrote from Babylon to the rulers of Jerusalem to warn them Nebuchadnezzar was returning and would destroy the city, the temple and the throne. But that would be no problem, because God would fulfil His promise concerning the temple, city and throne in the person of His Son.

Thus says the Lord God; Remove the diadem and take off the crown…I will overturn, overturn, overturn it: and it shall be no more, until He come whose right it is; and I will give it Him. (Ezek 21:27).

God told the rulers that He was removing them from their throne in Jerusalem. Overturn means that God would overturn the city, the rulers and the temple. God said the crown would not be returned “until He came whose right it is”.

The word used here in the Hebrew is Shiloh. In Ezekiel Shiloh was translated into English, whereas in Gen 49:10 it was not translated into English. In both Ezekiel and Genesis Shiloh is used in the original Hebrew.

Ezekiel meant that the crown would be taken away from Jerusalem until the Son of David would come and the crown would be given to Him. God meant that the promises were not to the natural sinners of Jerusalem, but to His Seed, meaning Christ (Gal 3:16). This meant Jesus would be King over His people the church. Shiloh always refers to the church.

This is a clear statement that God’s promises to Israel are fulfilled in Christ.