This would indicate that, at the time this prophecy was delivered, Jerusalem had not yet been destroyed, or, if it had, that word of it had not yet reached the Valley of Lemuel. It was in the year 596 B.C., according to the calculation of scholars, that Jehoiachin and thousands of prominent citizens with him, were carried away to Babylon. Among others was the prophet Ezekiel. The temple was also plundered of its costly treasures. Zedekiah was appointed king. It was not until ten years later that Jerusalem, because of the treachery of Zedekiah, was destroyed and the temple and other public buildings were demolished by fire. (2 Kings 24 and 25 ch.) This was in the year 586 B.C.
Then the doom of the kingdom of Judah was complete. The captivity was a separation not only from house and home and the land of inheritance, but also from the worship of Jehovah, the God of their fathers, because to the faithful Jew, worship was intimately connected with the temple in Jerusalem. By the rivers of Babylon the captives wept and hung their harps upon the willows, for, "How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?" (Jer. 29:1-14) Ezekiel, who was in Babylon, also promised them in the name of the Lord that they would be permitted to return and build a new temple.
Destroyed. This word does not mean "annihilated." Jerusalem was "destroyed" when its houses were laid in ashes, its walls broken down and many of its inhabitants carried away into captivity; that was destruction, but the city always remained, even if in ruins. Nephi (2 Ne. 25:9) says the Jews were "destroyed" from generation to generation, but he explains what he means (v. 16), viz., The Lord hath "scourged them from generation to generation." It is well to remember that destruction does not always mean complete extermination.