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“I Will Raise Up One Shepherd”Pure Worship of Jehovah—Restored At Last!
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“The One Who Has the Legal Right”
12. How did Jehovah make clear that he had not abandoned his covenant with David?
12 From the divine explanation of the prophetic riddle about the two eagles, Ezekiel understood that Zedekiah, an unfaithful king in the royal line of David, would be dethroned and taken captive to Babylon. Perhaps the prophet wondered, ‘What about God’s covenant with David, which promised that a king from David’s family line would rule forever?’ (2 Sam. 7:12, 16) If Ezekiel did ponder such a question, he did not have to wait long for an answer. About 611 B.C.E., in the seventh year of the exile, while Zedekiah was still ruling in Judah, “the word of Jehovah came” to Ezekiel. (Ezek. 20:2) Jehovah had him relate another Messianic prophecy, one that made clear that God had not abandoned his covenant with David. On the contrary, the prophecy indicated that the future Messianic Ruler would have the legal right to rule as the heir of David.
13, 14. What is the gist of the prophecy recorded at Ezekiel 21:25-27, and how is the prophecy fulfilled?
13 What the prophecy says. (Read Ezekiel 21:25-27.) In no uncertain terms, Jehovah through Ezekiel addresses the “wicked chieftain of Israel,” whose time of punishment has arrived. Jehovah tells this wicked ruler that his “turban” and “crown,” or diadem, (symbols of royal power) would be taken from him. Then, ruling powers that had been “low” would be raised up, and those that had been “high” would be brought low. The ruling powers raised up hold sway, but only until “the one who has the legal right comes,” and then Jehovah gives that one the Kingdom.
14 How the prophecy is fulfilled. In 607 B.C.E., with the destruction of Jerusalem, the “high” kingdom of Judah centered in Jerusalem was brought low when the Babylonians destroyed that city and took captive the dethroned King Zedekiah. Then, with no king in David’s royal line ruling in Jerusalem, the “low” Gentile powers were raised up, leaving them in control of the earth—but only for a limited period of time. The Gentile Times, or “the appointed times of the nations,” ended in 1914 when Jehovah conferred kingship on Jesus Christ. (Luke 21:24) As a descendant of King David, Jesus indeed had “the legal right” to the Messianic Kingdom.b (Gen. 49:10) Hence, in Jesus, Jehovah fulfilled his solemn promise to give David a permanent heir to an everlasting Kingdom.—Luke 1:32, 33.
15. Why can we have the utmost confidence in the King, Jesus Christ?
15 What we can learn from the prophecy. We can have the utmost confidence in the King, Jesus Christ. Why? Because unlike worldly rulers who may be elected by humans or may usurp ruling authority, Jesus was chosen by Jehovah and “given . . . a kingdom” to which he has the legal right. (Dan. 7:13, 14) Surely the King whom Jehovah himself has appointed deserves our confidence!
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Three Messianic PropheciesPure Worship of Jehovah—Restored At Last!
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1. “The One Who Has the Legal Right” (Ezekiel 21:25-27)
GENTILE TIMES (607 B.C.E.–1914 C.E.)
607 B.C.E.—Zedekiah dethroned
1914 C.E.—Jesus, the one with “the legal right” to the Messianic Kingdom, enthroned as King, becoming Shepherd-Ruler
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