Preparing to Read Mark · Unit 12 of 16
Land, kingdom, and temple—all were lost
Bible readings: 2 Kings 17, 24–25; Jeremiah 29, 31; Ezekiel 36 (selected passages)
In the previous stage, we saw the prophets repeatedly remind northern Israel and southern Judah not to leave God or use religious ceremonies to cover up idolatry and injustice. But the people and many kings persistently refused to turn back. At this stage, the judgment the prophets had warned of actually happened.
1. Northern Israel Falls to Assyria First
After the kingdom divided, northern Israel survived for about two hundred years. Around 722 BC, the powerful Assyrian Empire captured its capital, Samaria. The northern kingdom fell, and many inhabitants were resettled elsewhere.
“So the LORD became very angry with Israel and drove them from his presence. Only the tribe of Judah remained.”
— 2 Kings 17:18
Politically, this was a small nation conquered by a great empire. But Kings interprets the event spiritually: Israel had long been unfaithful to its covenant with God.
2. The Prophets Had Warned Them Repeatedly
“Through all the prophets and seers, the LORD warned Israel and Judah: ‘Turn from your evil ways. Keep my commandments and statutes, following the law I commanded your ancestors and delivered to you through my servants the prophets.’ But they would not listen.”
— 2 Kings 17:13–14
In the biblical narrative, national collapse was therefore not a sudden change of mind on God’s part, but the accumulated result of long-standing covenant-breaking.
The prophetic warnings were not empty words: Scripture understands national collapse as judgment after persistent unfaithfulness to God.
3. Southern Judah Remains for a Time
After the north fell, southern Judah continued to exist. Some kings during this period, such as Hezekiah and Josiah, sought religious reform, trying to remove idols and renew attention to God’s law.
Yet reforms by individual kings did not completely transform the nation’s long-accumulated problems. The prophets still warned Judah that if it continued to turn away from God, neither Jerusalem nor the temple could guarantee its permanent safety.
4. Babylon Becomes the New Great Power
Assyria later declined, and the Babylonian Empire rose. Babylon’s king Nebuchadnezzar attacked Judah repeatedly. Jerusalem was besieged on successive occasions, and many royal family members, officials, craftspeople, and ordinary people were taken to Babylon.
Zedekiah, Judah’s last king, rebelled against Babylon. Around 586 BC, Jerusalem was breached, and Judah’s kingdom came to an end.
5. Jerusalem and the Temple Are Destroyed
“He burned the house of the LORD and the royal palace, and he burned Jerusalem’s houses, including the homes of the great families. The entire Chaldean army under the captain of the guard tore down the walls around Jerusalem.”
— 2 Kings 25:9–10
This was a devastating shock for the people of Judah. Jerusalem was the center of David’s dynasty, and the temple was a vital place for worshiping God. Now kingdom, walls, and temple were lost almost together.
6. What Exactly Is “Exile”?
After conquering a country, ancient empires often relocated some of its inhabitants to other regions of the empire to weaken resistance. The people of Judah being taken to Babylon is what Scripture calls “exile.”
Not everyone was taken away, nor did the entire people disappear. But the exiles left their homes, lived under foreign rule, and lost their former kingdom and temple.
Exile was not merely “moving to another country.” It was a profound disruption of a whole people’s political life, relationship to the land, and religious life.
7. The Great Question: Had God’s Promises Failed?
God had given land to Abraham’s descendants and had made a promise concerning David’s dynasty. Now foreigners controlled the land, David’s descendants no longer reigned, and the temple had been destroyed. For people at the time, this naturally raised a painful question: had God’s promises failed?
The prophets’ answer was not that Babylon’s gods were stronger than God. Rather, this disaster was the very judgment God had previously warned of; at the same time, God had not abandoned his people.
8. Life Must Continue in a Foreign Land
The prophet Jeremiah wrote a letter to those exiled to Babylon. Some may have expected to return home quickly, but Jeremiah told them to settle into life there and seek the well-being of their city.
“Seek peace for the city to which I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD for it. When that city has peace, you too will share in its peace.”
— Jeremiah 29:7
This means that even away from Jerusalem, God remained in relationship with his people. Faith had not simply ceased because land and temple were lost.
9. Ezekiel: God Will Change the Human Heart
The prophet Ezekiel himself lived among the exiles. His message exposed the people’s sin while also speaking of future restoration, with a focus on the human heart.
“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I will remove the heart of stone from your body and give you a heart of flesh.”
— Ezekiel 36:26
This is a crucial turning point. The problem was not simply the need to replace a king or rebuild a city; people’s hearts themselves needed renewal.
10. Jeremiah Speaks of a “New Covenant”
“The LORD says, ‘Days are coming when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.’”
— Jeremiah 31:31
We have already encountered the covenant at Sinai. Now, against the background of national failure and exile, the prophets begin to speak of a deeper renewal God will bring in the future.
National collapse and exile are not the end of the biblical story. Instead, they make the question of how God will truly restore his people all the more urgent.
11. The Promise to King David Still Raises a Question
God had promised David that his throne and descendants would have a special place in the plan of redemption. After the nation’s fall, however, David’s dynasty lost its actual ruling power.
Later Jews therefore increasingly wondered whether God would one day raise up a king who truly pleased him. This expectation gradually became linked with the hope for the “Messiah.”
12. Exile Raises Three Important Questions
From this point onward, keep three questions in mind as you read the rest of the Bible:
- Land: when will God’s people be able to return to their own land?
- Temple: can Jerusalem and its center of worship be rebuilt?
- King: how will the promise to David’s dynasty continue?
None of these questions received a quick and complete answer in later Jewish history. They would continue to shape expectations of God’s salvation even in Jesus’ time.
13. Key Points from This Stage
- Around 722 BC, Assyria conquered the northern kingdom of Israel.
- Southern Judah also persisted in turning away from God and was eventually conquered by Babylon.
- Around 586 BC, Jerusalem and the First Temple were destroyed, and Judah’s kingdom fell.
- Many people of Judah were relocated to Babylon, beginning the period of “exile.”
- The prophets identified national collapse as the result of persistent covenant-breaking, while affirming that God had not abandoned his people.
- The prophets began to speak more clearly of a new heart, a new covenant, restoration, and the hope of God’s renewed rule over his people.
14. Where Does the Biblical Story Go Next?
After Judah fell, the people lived in Babylon for decades. But Babylon was not the last empire. Persia later rose, and its new rulers allowed exiled Jews to return to Jerusalem.
At last they could go home and rebuild the temple. Yet another question immediately arose: did returning to the land mean that the “restoration” God had promised was now fully accomplished?