Different Judeans (and refugee Israelites) may have interpreted it in different ways, but no one could ignore its implications, politically or religiously. To some, the fact that Israel fell and Judah stood showed that Judah was better, ethically or in terms of fidelity to Yahweh. To others, it showed that it was possible to fall, and this was a warning to Judah. Presumably, it would be harder to laugh off a prophet who predicted the fall of Judah after the catastrophe of 722.