Before we go any further I want to take a moment to explain what is going to happen. As we read through Isaiah and other prophet books, they just won’t make sense unless you understand the big picture. Tomorrow we are going to read some detailed prophecies about “a Captivity” or “an Exile”. The way I explain this when I do a study with teenagers is: God says to his children…I put you in this land, shape up and start obeying me or I will take you out of this land”.
My adult answer would be-The captivity or exile refers to the time period in Israel’s history when Jews were taken captive by King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon. It is an important period of biblical history because both the captivity/exile and the return and restoration of the Jewish nation were fulfillments of Old Testament prophecies.
God used foreign nations to bring judgment against Israel for their sins of idolatry and rebellion against Him. There were actually several different times during this period when the Jews were taken captivity. During the captivity, the enemy nations would kill many people, destroy the Jewish temple, take captive many thousands of Jews, and left Jerusalem in ruins.
If you look at this map you will see that Israel (purple) will fall (captivity)to Assyria in 722. But remember when Jeroboam and Rehenboam split the kingdom I told you to remember the “J” and the “R”. Rehoboam comes from the line of David-the line with the Covenant to bring the Messiah. Jereboam does not. So when the Assyrians take Israel they do not come back. However…Judah (who the scepter will not depart from) has to survive it. They are taken into Babylonian captivity in 586 B.C. The few that survive it are called the “Remnant”. As prophesied in Scripture, the Jewish people would be allowed to return to Jerusalem after 70 years of exile. That prophecy was fulfilled in 537 B.C., and the Jews were allowed by King Cyrus of Persia to return to Israel and begin rebuilding the city and temple. The return under the direction of Ezra led to a revival among the Jewish people and the rebuilding of the temple. This might help:
In the overview, I talked about Isaiah being the most quoted prophecies in the New Testament. Example: Matthew 1 says: All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”(which means “God with us”). The prophecy of this will be in tomorrow’s read. Here is a list of the fulfilled prophecies from Isaiah. At the bottom of this post, I will attach all 3 visuals in a printable format just in case you like them as much as I do.
Fulfilled Prophecies From Isaiah
| The Prophecy | The Fulfillment |
| The Messiah… | Jesus Christ… |
| will be born of a virgin (Is. 7:14) | was born a virgin named Mary (Luke 1:26-31) |
| will have a Galilean ministry (Is. 9:1,2) | ministered in the Galilee of the Gentiles (Matt. 4:13-16) |
| will be an heir to the throne of David (Is. 9:7) | was given the throne of His father David (Luke 1:32,33) |
| will have His way prepared (Is. 40:3-5) | was announced by John the Baptist (John 1:19-28) |
| will be spat on and struck (Is. 50:6) | was spat on and beaten (Matt. 26:67) |
| will be exalted (Is. 52:13) | was highly exalted by God and the people (Phil. 2:9,10) |
| will be disfigured by suffering (Is. 52:14; 53:2) | was scourged by the soldiers who gave Him a crown of thorns (Mark 15:15-19) |
| will make a blood atonement (Is. 53:5) | shed His blood to atone for our sins (1 Peter 1:2) |
| will be widely rejected (Is. 53:1,3) | was accepted by many (John 12:37,38) |
| will bear our sins in sorry (Is. 53:4,5) | died because of our sins (Rom. 4:25; 1 Peter 2:24 |
| will be our substitute (Is. 53:6,8) | died in our place (Rom. 5:6, 8; 2 Cor. 5:21) |
| will voluntarily accept our guilt and punishment (Is. 53:7,8) | was silent about our sin (Mark 15:4; John 10:11; 19:30) |
| will be buried in a rich man’s tomb (Is. 53:9) | was buried in the tomb of Joseph, a rich man from Arimathea (Matt. 27:57-60; John 19:38-42) |
| will save us who believe in Him (Is. 53:10,11) | provided salvation for all who believed (John 3:16; Acts 16:31) |
| will die with transgressors (Is. 53:12) | was numbered with the transgressors (Mark 15:27; Luke 22:37) |
| will heal the brokenhearted (Is. 61:1,2) | healed the brokenhearted (Luke 4:18) |
Reading the Bible in a Year-2020 
can I ask our you going to go into more detail as far as how they were put into captivity?
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I see you are on the “Understanding the Captivity” post. I hope I caught you before you read any further. As you read the Prophecy books, there will be lots of detailed descriptions about how he will raise up first the Assyrians to invade Israel and literally take them out of their homes and into Assyria. It will be brutal. The Israelites will be taken in waves but complete by 722. Then the Babylonians, at God’s hand, will rise up and capture the Judeans in waves. That too will be horrible. The land will be barren, the Temple will be destroyed. When we read Lamentations (I forget who wrote it….maybe Jeremiah….anyway, he will Lament to God and basically say “How can this be YOUR plan?? How can good come of this scene??. But there is a Covenant that God made and a few will survive…and the Messiah will come from them.
Is that what you mean? If not ask me again. 🙂
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That’s perfect!..I was thinking after I asked the question, I beat she will break it down as we go through the rest of the books. Thanks for understanding and explaining what is to come and thanks for this study, it has kept me grounded in the Word.
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