The fall of the Northern Kingdom (721-333 BC)
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After the death of Jeroboam II, the power of Israel quickly disappeared. There were constant rebellions in the country, dynasties overthrown and reigning kings mostly killed by rebels. The Assyrian Empire took advantage of the chaos and weakness of the Northern Kingdom, invaded the border and conquered Samaria. It was the year 721 BC. It marked the end of the Kingdom of the North. The Assyrians deported the ten tribes of Israel and scattered them all over their territory to do forced labour. New populations were called in the territory of Samaria. (2 Kings 15:1 - 17: 41）。 Samaria became a city of foreign and mixed people. The enmity between Jerusalem and Samaria endured until the time of Jesus.

The two main tribes of the South were Judah and Benjamin. There were many Levites (from the tribe of Levi) too, who worked in the Temple of Jerusalem and there must have been a number of Israelites from the North, who fled the invasion of the Assyrians and took refuge in the South. However, the tribe of Judah (which was the tribe of King David) was the backbone of the Kingdom of the South. The future Messiah would come from the house of David.

After the complete disappearance of the ten lost tribes of the North, the mission of the Kingdom of Judah became very important: all the promises and the covenants God had made with the 12 tribes of Israel, had to be taken up and fulfilled by the Kingdom of Judah.

Destruction of the Temple, the Exile (587 BC)
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Nabucco, the Babylonian king, after several attacks finally conquered Jerusalem and destroyed the city and the Temple. The kingdom of Judah fell in 587 BC and the Jews were exiled to Babylon (2 Kings 24:1-25：20）。

Although at that time the Prophet Jeremiah considered the exile of the Israelites to Babylon as a punishment for their sins and infidelities to the Lord, he still encouraged the Israelites to continue to keep alive their hope in the future. He was convinced that the Lord would change their destiny : the Lord would gather them from all the nations and places where He had banished them and would bring them back to the place from where they had been exiledthe. (Jeremiah 29：14）

Prophet Ezekiel gave hope to the exiles in Babylon, by announcing the plan of God to gather them and bring them back to Jerusalem. God’s initiative to send His Spirit into the sinners’ hearts was prior to man’s conversion. “ I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. You will live in the land I gave your forefathers; you will be my people, and I will be your God’.” (Ezekiel 36：27-28） He also prophesied the rebirth of the nation of Israel and proclaimed the coming of salvation （Ref. Ezekiel 36：33-38）。 In the hymn of the Prophet Isaiah “the Lord’s servant”, he foretold the coming of Christ（Ref. Isaiah 42:1-9， Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12﹚。

Another great change that took place in Babylon was the change of language. Aramaic was the language of the people of that area; the second generation of exiles spoke Aramaic rather than Hebrew. The need of the “scribe” (the teacher who understood Hebrew) arose. The scribe had to explain the Torah in Aramaic to the Aramaic speaking Jews. Jesus also spoke Aramaic.

The Jerusalem temple had been destroyed and there was no centralized place of worship. The first concept of the “synagogue” as a local place of local communities to gather on the Sabbath day, read the Torah and worship God was born in Babylon.

Return to their country to rebuild (538-333 BC)

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In 539, King Cyrus the Great, the founder of the Persian Empire, defeated the Babylonians and became the absolute ruler of the time. He issued an order to allow the Jews to return home. “Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia: ‘All the kingdoms of the earth the LORD, the God of heaven, has given to me, and he has charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah." (Ezra 1：2﹚

So all the Jews returning to Jerusalem took it as their responsibility to rebuild the temple. Conflict arose between the Jews and Samaritans over the construction of the temple, and years of poor harvests dampened the enthusiasm for rebuilding the temple. Thanks to the "Third Isaiah" who encouraged naturalization of the Gentiles, the desire to rebuild the temple was rekindled. Due to the encouragement from prophets of the time and later prophets the temple was finally rebuilt. (Ezra 1:1 - 6:22）。