The southern two tribes, called Judah, was the kingdom of God but these also became so wicked and idolatrous that they were removed out of the land. This was done by Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, situated in what is now Iraq, and this chapter records the last years of the kingdom. It was first oppressed by Pharaoh king of Egypt and then it was invaded by Nebuchadnezzar. Zedekiah was placed on the throne by Nebuchadnezzar but after eleven years he rebelled, with the result that the Babylonian armies besieged Jerusalem and when it fell the king, princes, and virtually all the people were taken captive to Babylon. However, God declared through his prophet Jeremiah that after seventy years they would be permitted to return. 2 Chronicles 36:21Waiting for response for 2 Chronicles 36:21
Zedekiah was the last king to sit on the throne of the LORD in Jerusalem and he was told by the prophet Ezekiel: “Thus saith the Lord GOD; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown... I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him”. Ezekiel 21:26-27Waiting for response for Ezekiel 21:26-27 Jesus is heir to this throne because God made the specific promise to king David that his seed would sit on the throne and reign over the kingdom of God for ever, and the signs indicate that we are very near the time when he will return from heaven to sit upon this throne of glory.
God declared through his prophet Jeremiah that after seventy years they would be permitted to return. At the end of seventy years Cyrus, king of the Persians who had overthrown the Babylonians, issued a decree that any Jew who so desired could return to the promised land.vs.22-23Waiting for response for 2 Chronicles 36:22-23 This illustrates how God proclaims his intentions beforehand and then controls events, moving the mightiest of men to carry out his will, even if they do not know they are doing it. We can see this happening in our own times. For example, God also proclaimed what would happen to both the ten tribes and the two tribes long after they were scattered among the nations. The prophecies of the scriptures declare that the people of the two tribes would return to the land before the coming of Christ, and in recent times we have seen their return and the establishment of the State of Israel. However the descendants of the ten tribes still remain among the nations and these will be brought back to the land once Jesus has returned to Jerusalem as king.
The books of Kings and Chronicles record how the northern kingdom of ten tribes continued in wickedness and idolatry despite all the prophets sent to exhort them into the right way, and eventually, about B.C.720, the Assyrian armies invaded the country, captured their capital city of Samaria, and carried all the people away captive. Thus the ten tribes were scattered among the nations, later becoming indistinguishable from the “Jews”. The Assyrians pursued a policy of moving conquered people into other lands, and those they brought into the land of Israel became known, after the capital city Samaria, as “Samaritans” whose descendants we read of in the New Testament.