King Zedekiah Blinded

God promised King David that the Messianic Kingdom should come through his line, and for several centuries no king reigned in Jerusalem except David's posterity. The last was King Zedekiah. Of him God declared through the Prophet (Ezekiel 21:25-27), "O thou profane and wicked prince, whose time is come that iniquity should have an end! Take off the diadem, remove the crown; this shall not be the same. I will overturn, overturn, overturn it, until He come whose right it is, and I will give it to Him." This was another way of saying that there would be no more kings of David's line until Messiah. This has been fulfilled during the long period of 2519 years from then until now. All later kings were tributary, and none of David's line.

When God took His Kingdom from Zedekiah, He told him through one of the Prophets that he would be carried prisoner by Nebuchadnezzar to Babylon; and by another Prophet that he would never see Babylon. Both prophecies came true, for Nebuchadnezzar caused his eyes to be put out when a prisoner, and in that condition he went to Babylon.

But God's promise to David, "Of the fruit of thy loins shall a king sit upon thy throne forever," was not broken. The message to Zedekiah merely indicates that the throne ceased to be recognized of the Lord, and would thus remain until Messiah's Kingdom.

But the First Advent of Jesus did not fulfil this prophecy; for, although Jesus is the Messiah, He has not yet entered upon His Kingly office. Jesus began His service as a Priest-- "He offered up Himself." His offering continues these nineteen hundred years. Since Pentecost He has been accepting and offering as His members such as present their bodies living sacrifices. (Romans 12:1.) These joint-sacrificers are promised, as "members of the Body of Christ," a share in the Messianic reign of a thousand years, for the blessing of Israel and the whole world.--Revelation 20:6.