Historicist Only Jehoiachin, sign of hope that David's throne hadn't been forgotten

mkgal1 said:

I've been attempting to put the story of God's redemptive history into chronological order and recently came across this. I'm still connecting dots and would appreciate some help in putting this all together (as studying history is new to me).

There are a couple of passages that have caught my attention recently:

Jeremiah 22:30 - "Thus says the Lord: 'Write this man down as childless, a man who shall not prosper in his days; for none of his descendants shall prosper, sitting on the throne of David, and ruling anymore in Judah'."

Jeremiah 52:31-34 - Now on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the first year of the reign of Evil-merodach king of Babylon, he pardoned Jehoiachin king of Judah and released him from prison.
And he spoke kindly to Jehoiachin and set his throne above the thrones of the other kings who were with him in Babylon.33So Jehoiachin changed out of his prison clothes, and he dined regularly at the king’s table for the rest of his life. 34And the king of Babylon provided Jehoiachin a daily portion for the rest of his life, until the day of his death.

@Christian Gedge was this a year of jubilee?

Wouldn't this mean that this was a sign that God hadn't forgotten His promise of an eternal throne.......but that the expectation of a physical throne on earth (as so many have expected over a millenia) was NOT what God was fulfilling?​

Click to expand...

Evil-merodach was king of Babylon 562 - 560 BC. My Jubilee count begins in 1444 BC which, by my reckoning was the proper Exodus date. Yes, if we keep deducting 49's from 1444 BC it does bring us to 562 BC like you say.

So, Evil-merodach must have released Jehoiachin on the cusp of a Jubilee like you are saying. Whether he knew much about Israel's calendar system, it doesn't say. What we do know though, is that the Babylonians were advanced in their understanding of astronomy, although I doubt that he cared enough to release Jehoiachin just to make a symbolic point. I'm inclined to think like you, that his release was really the work of God.

All the best on your story of God's redemptive history. Its a worthy project.