The foremost and last big prophesy by God is the residue of Israel being re-gathered and returning to the Promise Land from all the nations in which they have been scattered. It is also pronounced that they will rebuild the House of God and Jerusalem. And it will all be led by a man referred to as the Messiah, Branch or Anointed One. It is also possible he will lead with an Anointed Priest, Zech4:11-14, 4:3. Due to the writings of Ezra and Nehemiah it is possible all of it has occurred.

In the writings of Ezra the House of God is depicted as rebuilt and completed, Ezra6:14-15. Also the residue of Israel returning to Jerusalem, Neh11:20. These two writings do indeed depict an end to the matter. Thus it would mean one of the leaders of the quest is the Messiah. The problem with Ezra and Nehemiah they both end with political unrest. If one adhered to all writings in the Bible and did not distinguish the specific sayings of God and the words of men then Ezra and Nehemiah would be prophesy fulfilled, all is done. But if that is the case then who was Jesus and what was his purpose if all is done? Also, prophesy of the Messiah suggest once he comes his kingdom will last forever. So we today should be in that time period. In a simple observation of today it is clear we are not living in the reign of the prophesied Messiah. If we were, we would be able to see and touch the walls of Jerusalem, the Levites would be doing the daily sacrifices to God and the House of God would be standing right know, mist and all. But these things are not so. Thus we are not living in the time period of the God given prophesies of the Messiah.

What we have is a conflict within the OT itself. What we must do is resolve the conflict and make it understandable within the Scripture with out violating or flowing against the Word of God. Can it be done?

The conflicts are between the recording of Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai and Zechariah. The first thing that we must establish, if possible, is a chronological order. All four writings occurred after IIkgs. So we know the land the conquered of Israel and Judah are coming from would be Babylon. I suspect Babylon defeated Assyria. This is not pronounced in the Scripture but we know Israel and Judah some how ended up in the land of Babylon, Ichr9:1. It appears Persia defeated Babylon. I suspect Assyria, Babylon, Persia and Rome are of the same province just under different kings. I suspect this because it is the only way one can make the NT fit the time line of Immanuel being an infant, Isa8:4. I have found tell-tell signs to support my suspicions, Ezra5:13. In the passage it shows Cyrus as king of Babylon. Yet Cyrus is king of Persia. I suspect when Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem he found a Great Book of their God and their history and from there he took control of the writings. Through the interpretation of the Great Book the kingdom of Babylon continues today as Rome.

My support for suspecting Assyria, Babylon, Persia and Rome was of the same land. Chaldeans taking Assyria, Isa23:13. The Chaldeans and Babylonians are the same people, Ezek23:15. Babylonians being Persians or governed by Persians, Ezra5:13. Cyrus is always depicted as king of Persia, IIChr36:22, Ezra1:1. So this could mean Assyria, Babylon and Persia was all one land and all one people. The name changes could mean they were fighting with in themselves for one Capital City. To support Persia also being Rome one has to pay close attention to Isa8:4. God gives us a time period when Immanuel is an infant. In order for Jesus to be Immanuel as stated in Mat1:23, Jesus had to have begin his ministry some time during the recordings of Ezra and Nehemiah. I suspect the men referred to in the NT as Pharisees was indeed the governors and the leaders in the recordings of Ezra and Nehemiah. More support for this could be Neh6:7-8. The prophets referred to could be the apostles of Jesus. And in Jesus' time were not the people running around spreading the rumor that there is a king in Judah?

Ezra, Nehemiah and Haggai are marked with a time stamp by telling the reader who the king was at that time. The suspected chronological order of kings wold be Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes, Ezra6:14. Ezra would be the first story due to Ezra1:1. Cyrus was the king that begins the decree to let the Jews rebuild Jerusalem. In the record of Ezra it appears the house of God and some cities were rebuilt and completed, Ezra6:14. It appears Ezra, Nehemiah and Haggai all occurred during the rebuilding of Jerusalem. It all occurred during the rein of the three kings of Persia. The record of Ezra seems to concentrate on the rebuilding of the House of God. The record of Nehemiah seems to concentrate on rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.

The writings I find interesting in this study is Haggai and Zechariah. The reason I must hold these writings above Ezra and Nehemiah is they depict God speaking. Thus they have specific sayings of God in them and that is what I have come to study. The writings of Zechariah seem to deal with prophecy of building Jerusalem. We are exploring rather or not everything has already occurred. Some of the recordings of Haggai suggest the time had not come, Hag1:2. It suggests God was continuing His chastisement of Israel.

Haggai is a short record so I will not show all the references. Haggai's record suggest Israel was trying to rebuild Jerusalem but they were unclean and under stress from their captives. This could be the reason the record of Haggai and Nehemiah seem to end with political unrest. Zechariah's record also supports this theory. The record of Haggai and Zechariah occurred about two months apart, Hag1:1, Zech1:1. And they both occurred in the latter part or after the record of Ezra, Ezra1:1.

So the question continues to stand; was all prophecy fulfilled? If one adheres to the writings of men, the answer would be yes. If one adheres to the specific sayings of God, the answer would be no. Zerubbabel only got as far as building the footer or foundation, Zech4:9. After Zerubbabel completed the footer, something occurred that is not recorded in the Scripture. What ever it was it caused Jerusalem of old not to be rebuilt, instead we ended up with the Jerusalem we have today. Now I understand why we have been taught to accept all of the Scripture as the Word of God. Once you do that then you have to hold the words of men as accountable as the specific saying of God. And it is Israel's enemies that have woven their own works in with the sayings of God. But as you can see, when one separates the Word of God and the word of man you begin to get different messages, you begin to see a Truth and how things have become as they are today.

Thus the Jerusalem of today is a derivative of the writings of Ezra, Nehemiah and the NT. I suspect they are near the true Promise Land but the place they are in is not it. The Jerusalem of today is the last place where the conquerors of Israel decided to put a people whom call themselves servants of the chosen religion, thus the chosen people. I suspect Judaism is indeed the closest one can get to the religion the people called Israel served. You have to understand when God sold Israel to Nebuchadnezzar; that meant every thing, their religion, their ways, even their doctrines. And the heathen took their doctrine and created what we have today, which is a great, great mystery. But they were afraid to do one thing and that is edit the specific sayings of God. And that is why you can find conflicts such as this. And that is why so many people can read the OT and have more questions then answers. You must distinguish between the Word of God and the word of men. Thus it is through the Word of God one can continue to see a Truth.