And I will bless those who bless you, and him that calls down evil upon you I shall curse, and all the families of the ground will certainly bless themselves by means of you.” (Gen. 12:2, 3)

22. In spite of letting the kingdoms of Israel and of Judah be overthrown, why did Jehovah preserve Abraham’s seed, and what did He do to a remnant thereof?

²² The principal one of Abraham’s seed, namely, the Messiah, had not come by the time of Samaria’s destruction in 740 B.C.E. nor by the time of Jerusalem’s destruction in 607 B.C.E. And yet the Messianic Descendant of Abraham had to come through his natural, fleshly line. True, Jehovah did let the enemies overturn the kingdom of Israel and the kingdom of Judah, but, still, he had to preserve the natural seed of Abraham. Why? Because out of that line the Messiah for blessing all nations of the earth had to come. (Matt. 1:1-3; Gal. 3:8-29) To that end Jehovah mercifully preserved a remnant of repentant Israelites clear through the seventy years of exile that followed the overturning of the kingdom of Judah at Jerusalem. He loyally held to his marriage covenant with the faithful remnant. Then he raised up the one who prefigured the Messiah, namely, Cyrus the conqueror of Babylon. Through this liberator Jehovah restored the remnant of the seed of Abraham to the land of Judah.