2 Kings 23:21-27 “Then the king commanded all the people, saying, "Keep the Passover to the Lord your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant." (22) Such a Passover surely had never been held since the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah. (23) But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah this Passover was held before the Lord in Jerusalem. (24) Moreover Josiah put away those who consulted mediums and spiritists, the household gods and idols, all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord. (25) Now before him there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses; nor after him did any arise like him. (26) Nevertheless the Lord did not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath, with which His anger was aroused against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him. (27) And the Lord said, "I will also remove Judah from My sight, as I have removed Israel, and will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen, and the house of which I said, 'My name shall be there.' "
We have already looked at the above-quoted passage of scripture when we discussed Judah’s initial exile. So why are we looking at this passage again? It is so that we can understand why God brought about the complete exiling of the Jewish nation. Jesus pointed us to the reason when He stated in the previous passage, that “these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.” The vengeance that Jesus spoke about was God's vengeance on the Jewish nation, for their forsaking Him to serve foreign gods. The fulfilment of all things that were written refers to the numerous prophecies similar to the one quoted above, where God stated that because of their provocations against Him, He would remove both Israel and Judah from His sight. Another example of God’s warning to the Jews along this line was prophesied by Jeremiah the prophet, “And it will be when you say, 'Why does the Lord our God do all these things to us?' then you shall answer them, 'Just as you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve aliens in a land that is not yours.'” (Jeremiah 5:19). And so as we have already seen, up until the year 70 AD, the prophecies of Israel’s exile had only been partially fulfilled. Nevertheless, between the years 70 AD and 352 AD, those prophecies were brought to fulfilment, as the whole nation of Israel was finally forced into exile.
Michael E.B. Maher
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