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The Fall of Jerusalem

2 Kings 25

The 10 northern tribes of Israel, and their capital Samaria, fell to the invading Assyrians in 722 B.C. after a three-year siege: "There was none left [in the land of Israel] but the tribe of Judah alone. Also Judah did not keep the commandments of the Lord their God" (2 Kings 17:18-19). "Judah" includes the very small tribe of Benjamin which bordered Judah in the land surrounding Jerusalem.

Beginning with Solomon's son, Rehoboam, who became king over Judah and Benjamin upon the death of Solomon in 930 B.C., the southern tribe of Judah had 20 kings who ruled until 586 B.C. There were some "good" kings in Judah (like Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, and Josiah) but most of them mirrored the idolatrous practices of their northern-kingdom counterparts. Ahaz was king of Judah in 722 B.C. when Assyria conquered Samaria—if he and the succeeding kings of Judah thought God would not judge them because the temple was in Jerusalem, they were sorely mistaken.

Babylon conquered Assyria as the dominant power in Mesopotamia and began making inroads into the land of Judah. Babylon's movement against Judah took place from 605-586 B.C., culminating in a two-year siege of Jerusalem that ended in 586 B.C. The Babylonian blockade around the city starved the people into submission. When Babylon finally took the city they destroyed the temple and all the buildings within the city walls. They carried off to Babylon all the temple service implements—everything that was gold or bronze (2 Kings 25:8-17).

There were three deportations of Jews to Babylon: 605 B.C. (including Daniel and his friends), 597 B.C. (including Ezekiel), and 586 B.C. when the city was destroyed. The prophet Jeremiah reported a total of 4,600 Jews were taken from Judah into captivity (Jeremiah 52:28-30). Judah's captivity lasted 70 years—one year for each Sabbath year the land had not been allowed to rest (Leviticus 25:1-7; 26:34, 43; Jeremiah 25:11-12; Daniel 9:2).

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